How to Attract Butterflies in the City in St. Paul or Minneapolis, MN (or Anywhere)

Also, Which Plants Attract Which Butterflies in Our Area

If you want to attract butterflies to your home in the city, in either St. Paul or Minneapolis, Minnesota (as opposed to the suburbs or country), all you have to do is provide the right plants in a sunny location. You don’t need a lot of yard space; even a few choice plants will attract them. You can even grow them in a pot, and on a deck with lots of sun. Mainly, the more right kinds of plants you have available for them, the more butterflies you’ll attract.

Just remember, most butterflies only feed on particular plants, so if you don’t provide those particular plants, it won’t matter how many other kinds you grow. Other than that, the only drawback to being in the city is that there aren’t as many varieties of butterflies you can attract as there are in the suburbs or country, because we simply don’t have the right kind of habitat.

This article will describe which butterflies I attract in St. Paul, which plants are needed for various species and why, and other necessities you can provide to keep butterflies around. I’ve also included some vital information about why butterfly populations are declining, their natural defenses against predators, and links where you can see spectacular photos of our butterflies, and butterflies in other states.

I live in St. Paul, smack-dab in the city, in a residential area. There’s a major street two blocks away, cars driving along my avenue, children playing in the yards, and dog-walkers and joggers constantly going past my house. Yet none of this deters butterflies from dining in my front yard.

IMPORTANT-What everyone, everywhere, should know about butterflies: Butterflies now must depend on human beings for their survival. Because we are developing so much of our land everywhere, butterflies are losing their natural habitat, including the plants which they need for breeding and nourishment. (Even Minnesota’s little remaining prairie ecosystem has been threatened, which in turn has impacted our native butterflies.) As a result, they are necessarily becoming more and more reliant upon what we provide.