You will have butterflies in your yard as a natural result of planting a bird garden. The same flowering plants and shrubs that attract birds and hummingbirds will draw them, too. For best results, though, plant a bed with specific host plants for butterflies.

A complete list of host plants for all the different butterfly species would be too much information. Here are some common host plants and the types of butterflies they attract:

• Citrus: Anise swallowtail
• Grass: Common wood nymph, eyed brown satyr
• Marigold: Clouded sulphur, orange sulphur
• Milkweed: Monarch, queen, viceroy
• Snapdragon: American painted lady, buckeye, gray hairstreak
• Sweet pea: Clouded sulphur, eastern tailed blue, gray hairstreak, little yellow, orange sulphur, silvery blue, southern dogface
• Verbena: American painted lady
• Violet: Atlantis fritillary, meadow fritillary
• Willow: Gulf fritillary, mourning cloak, red-spotted purple, western tiger swallowtail