Today is National Learn About Butterflies Day! 

Likes, bees, bats and other pollinators, butterflies put food on our tables! Without them, we wouldn’t have fruits, vegetables, or nuts! Many species of butterflies are threatened or endangered. You can help them out, by simply providing them with some of their favorite foods, and they will brighten your garden with color, and may even lay their eggs that will hatch into beautiful butterflies, if you have the correct host plants for them! Monarch larvae ONLY feed on Asclepiadiae species-milkweed. Native milkweed can be purchased locally from places like Caldwell Nursery in Rosenberg, Enchanted Garden in Richmond and other places. Black swallowtail larvae will feed on dill, fennel, carrot and parsley. You can attract black swallowtails to your garden by planting lots of dill.  They will lay their eggs and their little babies, that look almost identical to monarch caterpillars will gorge themselves on it!  Giant swallowtail larvae feed on lemon and lime tree leaves.

You can learn more about providing feeding stations and host plants for our butterflies to lay their eggs, by visiting several facebook pages and joining in the conversation.  I am a member of Monarchs and Milkweed Network and Joys of Butterfly Gardening In SE Texas. Both pages are really informative. You can also join  www.MonarchWatch.com  to learn how you can help our beautiful Monarch butterflies out.

Photo credits: Chuck Leaman  Nada, Texas