Many butterflies at the Nathanael Greene Butterfly House Springfield MO
Many butterflies visiting Zinnias at the Nathanael Greene Butterfly House in Springfield, MO.

Butterfly Gardening in Southwest Missouri

How do I attract butterflies to my garden?

Butterflies are sometimes called “flying flowers” because of how beautiful they look in gardens. The most exciting moment for any gardener is seeing pollinators, especially butterflies, visit their garden. It’s like a seal of approval from Mother Nature herself!

Myron Royce Gardens has been designing gardens in Southwest Missouri for over 30 years. We love seeing butterflies and other pollinators in the gardens we plant. In this article, we’ll give you a basic overview of butterfly life cycles, tell you the right plants to plant to support them, showcase a few Southwest Missouri native butterflies, and help you out with a few extra tips to keep your butterflies happy.

The Importance of Butterfly Gardens

Butterfly gardens are not just for show. They are an extremely important part of the ecosystem. As humans keep expanding our cities and suburbs, we keep destroying the habitats butterflies need to survive. The least we can do is replant our yards with butterflies in mind.

 

Butterfly gardens don’t just support butterflies. Plants enjoyed by butterflies are also often enjoyed by other pollinators like bees and hummingbirds (and less-loved pollinators, like beetles, flies and wasps). By supporting many pollinators, your garden is also supporting birds. It is said that one nesting pair of Chickadees needs to eat 6,000-9,000 caterpillars to raise their young!

 

So not only are butterfly gardens beautiful, they are also important in conservation for butterflies, bees, birds, and many other species! Additionally, they are fun and educational for kids and adults alike!

Butterfly Life Cycles

Butterflies start their lives as tiny eggs laid on the leaves of plants, or sometimes on the ground directly. They spend about a week in the eggs, and then hatch as minuscule caterpillars.

The caterpillars then eat, eat, and eat. (Remember The Very Hungry Caterpillar? That book wasn’t very far from the truth!) Caterpillars only eat plant leaves. As they do, they expand in size rapidly. Most have reached full size in about two weeks.

After the caterpillar is full size, it sheds its skin and becomes chrysalis. (The chrysalis isn’t something wrapped around the caterpillar. It is actually the caterpillar’s exoskeleton!) Inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar’s body dissolves and reforms into a butterfly. This also usually takes about two weeks.

Once the butterfly is fully formed, it sheds its chrysalis and crawls out. It takes an hour or two to dry out and pump fluid through its wings, and then it is ready to fly away!

Most butterflies only live for about two weeks, but some species live for months. A butterfly spends almost all its time drinking nectar from flowers. During nights, butterflies often sleep upside down, hanging from tree leaves. Female butterflies will mate and lay eggs once in their lives, and the cycle continues.

Eggs of Silvery Checkerspot butterfly in Springfield, MO. Caterpillars in first instar eat the leaves of the Coneflower.
Eggs of Silvery Checkerspot Butterfly on Coneflower. Caterpillars to the bottom right eat the leaves. Thumbnail for scale.
Newly hatched Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar.
Newly hatched Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar. Thumbnail for scale.

Plants that Support Butterflies

Butterflies need three kinds of plants: Host plants, Nectar plants, and Shelter plants.

Host Plants – Caterpillars eat the leaves. 

Each species of caterpillar has one or a few specific plants it will eat. If it doesn’t have these plants, it will have nothing to eat, and it won’t survive. Butterflies are smart, and lay their eggs only on plants that their caterpillar babies can eat. However, sometimes the caterpillars can finish eating the entire plant, and need another one!

Below, there is a list of butterfly species that are found in Southwest Missouri, along with the host plants its caterpillars can eat.

A Cecropia Moth caterpillar munches on the leaves of a Black Cherry tree. A mature Cecropia Moth rests behind it. Hand for scale.
A very real Cecropia Moth caterpillar munches on the leaves of a Black Cherry tree. A mature Cecropia Moth rests behind it. Hand for scale.

Shelter Plants – Butterflies hide and sleep in the leaves.

Butterflies like medium to large leaves to sleep under, so any deciduous tree will do. If you’re low on space and can’t plant a full-size tree, here’s a list of smaller trees and shrubs that butterflies will appreciate:

    • Any deciduous trees (Oak, Maple, Sycamore, Poplar, Willow, etc.)
    • Beautyberry
    • Buttonbush
    • Dogwood
    • Hibiscus
    • Hydrangeas
    • Japanese Maple
    • Redbud
    • Rose of Sharon

Nectar Plants – Butterflies drink nectar from the flowers.

Butterflies don’t discriminate with flowers. They will visit any flower that produces nectar. But not all flowers produce nectar, or have flowers that are shaped in a way that makes the nectar accessible to butterflies.

Here’s a list of nectar plants for Southwest Missouri that butterflies love:

    • Anise Hyssop
    • Aster
    • Bee Balm (Monarda)
    • Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia)
    • Blanket Flower (Gaillardia)
    • Blazing Star (Liatris)
    • Butterfly Bush
    • Button Bush
    • Calibrachoa
    • Cardinal Flower
    • Coneflower (Echinacea)
    • Golden Alexander
    • Goldenrod
    • Impatiens
    • Joe Pye Weed
    • Lantana
    • Marigolds
    • Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia)
    • Milkweed
    • Pentas
    • Petunias
    • Phlox
    • Salvia
    • Seven Sons Tree
    • Verbena
    • Vinca
    • Violets
    • Yarrow
    • Zinnias

*You can also set orange slices out on a hanging tray to attract butterflies! Just be careful to keep them out of the reach of ants.

Pipevine Swallowtail on a Hydrangea. Springfield, Missouri.
Pipevine Swallowtail on a Hydrangea. The wings of Pipevine Swallowtails are effervescent, sometimes appearing purely black and other times a vibrant blue. Pipevine Swallowtails are toxic to birds, so many other butterfly species mimic its coloring.

Southwest Missouri Butterflies

Giant Swallowtail – Papilio cresphontes

    • Prickly Ash, Wafer Ash, Rue, Citrus

Pipevine Swallowtail – Battus philenor

    • Pipevine plants, Virginia Snakeroot (Aristolochiaceae)

Black Swallowtail – Papilio polyxenes

    • Heart-leaf Alexander, Golden Alexander, Carrot, Fennel, Dill, Parsley

Spicebush Swallowtail – Papilio troilus

    • Spicebush, Sassafras

Zebra Swallowtail – Eurytides marcellus

    • Pawpaw tree

Tiger Swallowtail – Papilio glaucus

    • Black Cherry, Tulip Tree (Liriodendron), Sweet Bay Magnolia, Willow

Monarch – Danaus plexippus

    • Milkweed species (Asclepias)

Viceroy – Limenitis archippus

    • Willow, Poplar, Cottonwood

Red-Spotted Admiral – Limenitis arthemis

    • Willow, Cottonwood, Poplar

Luna Moth – Actias luna

    • Black Walnut, Black Cherry, Maple, Oak

Buckeye – Junonia coenia

    • Plantain (Plantago)

Great Spangled Fritillary – Speyeria cybele

    • Violets
Female Tiger Swallowtail on Pawpaw leaves in the Nathanael-Greene Butterfly House in Springfield, MO.
Female Tiger Swallowtail on Pawpaw leaves.
Tiger Swallowtail resting on a Wafer Ash.
Male Tiger Swallowtail resting on a Wafer Ash.
Butterflies on thistles at the Nathanael-Greene Butterfly House. Great Spangled Fritillary, Diana Fritillary, Monarch, and Spicebush Swallowtail.

There are many, many more butterflies that live in Southwest Missouri. If you want to learn more about native butterflies, you can look at the Missouri Department of Conservation’s page on Butterflies and Moths.

If you’re interested in volunteering in Springfield, Missouri, you can check out Nathanael-Greene Park’s Native Butterfly House. You can volunteer there by learning about butterflies and teaching guests in the butterfly house. You don’t need any experience! Volunteer positions are usually long-term. If you’re interested in this volunteer opportunity, follow this link to learn more.

A Red-Spotted Admiral, a Viceroy, and a Black Swallowtail eating a banana.
A Red-Spotted Admiral, a Viceroy, and a Black Swallowtail walk into a banana....
Painted Lady butterfly emerges from its Chrysalis.
Painted Lady butterfly emerges from its chrysalis. Next to it, another chrysalis is pinned to a display rack.

More Tips

    • Butterflies like to be sheltered from the wind. Plant your garden near a fence or trees to make the environment more attractive to butterflies.

    • Don’t spray any pesticides on your plants. It will deter, or even harm the butterflies.
       
    • Butterflies are lazy! They usually don’t get out of bed until about 10:00am, and they go to bed as soon as the sun starts to set! If you’re looking for butterflies, it is easiest to find them from 10:00am-4:00pm.

    • Don’t let predators get near your garden! If you have dogs (even if they’re very good boys and girls), they might just snack on a butterfly. It is best to keep these two wonderful kinds of animals separated by a fence. Butterflies are also eaten by moles, mice, snakes, birds, wasps, and even parasitic flies.

    • Butterflies also prefer some shade and some water during the heat of summer. Consider a little bit of midday irrigation in your garden, or a very shallow birdbath (butterflies can’t swim), and a shade tree nearby.

    • If you find caterpillars on your plants, you can bring them inside in an enclosure to watch them grow! Just be careful to always give them fresh food and keep any water covered (caterpillars can’t swim either). Let the butterflies go as soon as they begin to fly. They need to fly free! For more tips on raising caterpillars indoors, look at this article by the Butterfly Society of Virginia.

    • Finding Host plants can be tough. Most can be found at a native plant sale in your area, or online from a native plant vendor. In the Springfield, Missouri area, native plant sales can be found at the Springfield Botanical Gardens or the Conservation Nature Center. They are usually advertised on Facebook.

    • Nectar plants and Shelter plants can be easily sourced from any garden center. We at Myron Royce Gardens also plant these in abundance, and we can plant them for you too!
Viceroy butterflies are easily confused with Monarchs. This is a Viceroy, distinguished by the perpendicular stripes on the lower wings.
Luna Moth at the Nathanael Greene Butterfly House in Springfield, MO.
Luna Moth at the Nathanael-Greene Butterfly House.

Conclusion

Planting a butterfly garden is as easy as 1,2,3! Just plant Host Plants, Nectar Plants, and Shelter Plants! If you want butterflies, but don’t want to do all the planting, no problem! We’d be happy to help you design, plant, and maintain a garden that is perfect for Southwest Missouri butterflies! Just give us a call at 417-443-2648 or contact us here.

Butterfly milkweed with many spicebush swallowtails on its flowers in Ozark, MO.
Butterfly milkweed flowers covered in Spicebush Swallowtails.
Great Spangled Fritillary drinking nectar from a Zinnia.
Great Spangled Fritillary drinking nectar from a Zinnia.
Butterfly with proboscis extended.
Butterfly unfurling its proboscis (straw used to drink nectar).
Butterflies at the Nathanael-Greene Park in MO.
Can you spot all 8 butterflies?

About the Author

Myron Royce Gardens is a professional landscaping company based in Ozark, MO. We provide landscape design, installation, and maintenance services throughout the Springfield-Branson area. 

We started this blog because we want to share our knowledge and expertise with everyone in Southwest Missouri. Landscaping is our passion, and we want it to be a pleasant experience for everyone. 

If you want to see more, follow us on Facebook!

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