Butterfly Nursery Plants

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Not everyone can stomach watching caterpillars eat their garden plants. For many of us it is one of the thrills of summertime garden walks. Nectar plants provide food for adult butterflies and we have plenty of those. Host plants are where the butterflies raise their babies. The eggs must hatch on plants that the caterpillars can eat and adults only lay eggs on those plants.

Here are some of the plants we grow just so they can be eaten by caterpillars - can you identify the butterflies that use them for host plants?
Dutchman's Pipevine

Passionflower vines

Spicebush

Rue

Milkweed

Balloon milkweed

Swamp milkweed

Dill

Fennel


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