Butterflies sipping nectar from Euroyps Daisy

Spicebush Swallowtail?

Tiger Swallowtail in flight . He seems to like the citrus trees, this is where I always see him.

Attracting Butterflies to your Garden

Arizona boasts over 250 species of butterfly, with the right plants and environment you can attract these delicate beings to your yard. Swallowtails, Whites, Sulfurs, Blues, Hairstreaks and Metalmarks, Brushfoots, Skippers and Snouts are the most popular butterflies in Arizona.

Butterflies enjoy mass plantings of wide shallow flowers that they can easily perch on. To create a true butterfly garden you have to understand the phases of a butterflies metamorphis. There are four phases: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and then it's final metamorphis-a butterfly!

Larvae plants include Fern Acacia, Pipevine, Kidneywood,and Desert Senna

They love classic annual flowers such as zinnia, cosmos, and marigold. They also love lantana, red bird of Paradise, Euroyps daisy, Baja Fairy Duster, butterfly bush, desert milkweed, and butterfly weed.

Plant your garden of flowers to attract the butterfly at all stages. Planting somewhere that isn't a high traffic area, but an area that you can easily observe is an ideal location for a butterfly garden.

Photos of Butterflies from the Desert Botanical Garden Butterfly Exhibit