Really Help Butterflies: Plant companions & co-lives Vol. 2 Lepidoptera; Butterflies & moths, their larvae and food plants. If we want more butterflies in our gardens we must provide exactly those suitable plants that can feed their respective larvae, caterpillars, grubs, worms and miners, and not just plant a few pretty flowers to attract the adults. There are many books and sources recommending various flowers to ‘feed the butterflies’ and ‘bring more butterflies to your garden’. However most fail on one major point- you cannot have a butterfly on a flower without its larva eating the foliage of that or another plant! Providing a few more nectar sources does indeed feed the butterflies, but really does not increase their numbers or diversity. In fact you are just drawing them from elsewhere.If we really want to have more butterflies in all our gardens we must also provide exactly those suitable plants that can feed their respective larvae, caterpillars, grubs, worms and miners.
