By planting and maintaining a butterfly garden you will be rewarded with nature’s beauty all summer long. To draw butterflies you must select plants that produce nectar, as well as, host plants for butterfly eggs and caterpillars. Host plants give food for caterpillars and a safe haven for butterflies to lay their eggs. Newly hatched caterpillars cannot travel far; therefore, the butterfly will lay its eggs on the preferred plants. If hungry caterpillars munching holes in your plants causes you grief, place these host plants in a less conspicuous area. However, be sure not to plant them too far from the nectar producing plants, otherwise butterflies will not lay their eggs on them. Here is a list of some of the more common butterflies and their favored hosting plants. Anise Swallowtail: prefers citrus plants and sweet fennel Image courtesy of: http://www.exploringnature.org Black Swallowtail: prefers dill, fennel and parsley Checkered Skipper: prefers hollyhock Monarch: pre