Even if you rent or live in an apartment, you can make your outdoors more butterfly friendly without changing your landscaping!
 

• Grow container plants for butterflies

Butterflies don't care if the plants are on your porch, patio, or balcony instead of a garden or field. Grow host plants like butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) , aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium), and common blue violet (Viola sororia) to give butterfly caterpillars something to munch on. But be sure to plant several so they don't run out of food before they get big enough to pupate! There are also lots of beautiful native flowering plants that provide good nectar to adult butterflies. Try growing blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), or slender mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium) in pots!

​

• Don't use pesticides/herbicides!

Butterflies are very sensitive to toxic chemicals, even those that drift over from nearby areas. Many butterflies also feed on the flowering "weeds" that often get sprayed in lawns, such as clover.

monarchjointventure.org/monarch-biology/threats/pesticides

​

• Mow less frequently, & leave grasses taller when you do mow

Flowers from the "weeds" in your lawn get cut off by mowing, removing a vital food source for butterflies. Also, some caterpillars feed on grasses, and the higher you cut, the more likely they are to survive the mowing.
www.butterfly-ridge.com/butterfly-basics/2018/10/17/to-mow-or-not-to-mow

​

• Don't bag, burn, or chop fallen leaves

Many butterflies don't migrate, but instead stay where they are and overwinter as pupa or adults. To survive the cold temperatures, they often hide in fallen leaves or rely on the layer of leaves to insulate the soil. Leave the leaves! xerces.org/blog/leave-the-leaves

​

• Keep outdoor lights off at night

Artificial light at night messes with the internal clocks of monarchs and disrupts their navigational abilities. It also interferes with the normal mating behaviors of many moths, including the gorgeous luna moth!
www.uc.edu/news/articles/2022/05/lights-can-interfere-with-monarch-butterflys-navigation-abilities.html