In choosing your plants bear in mind that butterflies are attracted to bright colours. “Height is also an issue, as the 

larger butterflies seem to be happier feeding at about 1m whereas tiny blues gorge on low-growing border plants,” 

says Ms Reid.

So, which plants should you choose? Well, as the butterflies are out now, providing food for them is important. 

Shrubs such as Tecoma capensis or Cape honeysuckle, Plumbago, Asystasia gangetica otherwise known as the 

creeping foxglove, the shell bush Orthosiphon labiatus, and Bauhinia galpinii are good starting points.

Smaller plants could include agapanthus, crassulas, Felecia, gazanias, geraniums and the indigenous lobelia and 

nemesia.

Hypoestes aristata will bloom in autumn and is beautiful when it flowers but can be a bit problematic as it self seeds 

everywhere. Going into winter, the wild dagga, Leonotis leonurus is popular with the birds as well as butterflies. 

Then on to spring when the Mackaya bella puts on a beautiful display as does the Turraea floribunda (wild 

honeysuckle tree). 

Gazanias, geraniums, Asystasia, the Turraea floribunda and Mackaya bella also act as larval host plants. Many of 

the plectranthus family are also popular with the caterpillars and they are useful as they fill those shaded areas 

where little else will grow. Other good larval host plants could include Osteospermums (trailing daisies), Anchusa 

capensis or Cape forget-me-not, the broad leafed grass Setaria megaphylla, the indigenous jasmines and the wild 

mint Mentha longifolia.

These are only a few suggestions however, and as Charles and Julia Botha say in their book, “surprisingly, the 

larval food plants of approximately 160 butterfly species occurring in South Africa have not yet been recorded, so 

just about any indigenous plant could be a potential host plant.”