Grow Host Plants
Readers support local caterpillar and butterfly populations in their own gardens.
Butterfly weed is so easy to grow. It’s a monarch host plant but so many butterflies also love it!
Irma Boucher PRINCE FREDERICK, MARYLAND
My favorites for caterpillars include spicebush and tulip poplar trees.
Lyn Cosby ATLANTA, GEORGIA
For years I have grown fennel and parsley in my butterfly garden.
Sarah Doan ROCA, NEBRASKA
I delight in watching monarchs deposit their eggs on my common milkweed leaves and I often stare in overwhelming wonder as the beautiful—and ravenous—monarch caterpillars munch.
Jo Harris JONESBOROUGH, TENNESSEE
We grow two pots of dill, one for us and one for the eastern black swallowtail caterpillars. If they get on our stash, we simply place them on their own plant.
Joseph Ackerman SPRINGFIELD, OHIO
Flat-leaf parsley is my No.1 butterfly host plant. I see swallowtails lay their eggs throughout the summer, and my kids are thrilled when they spot caterpillars.
Leslie Henriques GROSSE POINTE, MICHIGAN