Color and pattern is like male Zabulon skipper.

Your situation is one I have commented on a few times here over the years. Unlike baseball players, butterflies may not cooperate with "build it and they will come" efforts.

You will certainly get whatever butterflies are in your neighborhood to pause at your property through your gardening efforts rather than fly-through at your well-lawned neighbors.

Cabbage whites are around because they can do with nasturtiums and vegetable plants in an urban area. Tiger Swallowtails range some miles from where they emerge and are then seen in sterile city blocks. Many skippers use grasses as hostplants and can find city niches to hang on.

How did you do with attracting birds?

This post was edited by larry_gene on Sun, Jun 23, 13 at 0:38

I am certainly no expert on the subject, but I always advise folks to put in as many butterfly host plants as they possibly can. My neighborhood is a bit more rural and not as sterile as what you describe, but my neighbors have commented that they are getting to see so many more butterflies and birds since I came and started changing the yard here by planting for them. As for host plants, I would suggest Bronze Fennel which is a perennial, Spicebush (Lindera benzoin), Hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata), Passionvine (Passiflora incarnata), Milkweed,a Senna, and a Pipevine. You can mail order most of these. And for nectar, you might consider adding some Zinnias. Get the varieties with the large centers like Scarlet Flame, State Fair, Cut and Come Again. Profusion Zinnias are nice too. Large patches of the same nectar flower are said to be more attractive to butterflies. I'd be happy to send you some Senna seed if you'd like. HTH!
Angie

I live in a similar neighborhood to yours. Full of manicured lawns--all around an acre or more, with pools on most lots. Almost everyone has lawn service. My yard is a Monarch Waystation, where Monarchs are welcome, and visit spring and fall. I have gardens everywhere, some rather messy as I hurt my back this spring. I have the "butterfly buffet on the super highway" as Dr. John Nelson, our local Lep authority told me. In the 9 years we have been here, I have documented 84 species of butterflies out of 117 for the area. Several are county records for butterflies that come to the gardens, but have not been seen in other areas of our county.

What is the area like outside the neighborhood? If you have deer, I wonder if there are woods and fields around. This makes a difference. Trees are one of the most important sources for wildlife including butterflies. You have a nice selection of trees. Angie made some great recommendations for plants to add. Susan, another regular on here, lives on a city lot and draws in lots of butterflies with the habitat she has created.

It takes time, and some years aren't as good as others. But hang in there, you are doing the right thing. I'd recommend planting parsley and dill and an herb garden. The butterflies love the herbs. Host plants are so important to the butterflies that they will seek them out, so make sure you include lots and lots of host plants. You have some great host plants in the trees on your lot.

Become the "butterfly buffet" on the super highway. I think of the super highway as a barren place where there's lots of travel, but no one stops unless a restaurant/buffet has a reputation for being so good, everyone stops. And, they keep coming back for more!

Sandy

I was struck by the deer comment, too. Where there are deer, there are woods, at least nearby, so your neighborhood might not be too bad.
Red-spotted purples and tiger swallowtails both use cherry trees, and silver spotted skippers use black locust as host plants.

After you convert all that lawn to more host plants - you can check out our FAQ and combine that information with a list of the butterflies of NJ - maybe your neighbors will take notice. Then you can tell them how they're destroying the environment and killing off opportunities for birds and butterflies, in a nice way of course.

Rue makes a nice little shrub, and it gets black swallowtail (and giant swallowtail) eggs, although where you are, dill and fennel might live through the heat of summer. Ptelea trifoliata is a nice little tree that gets giant and tiger swallowtails. Spicebush and/or sassafras are the host plants for spicebush swallowtails - as I recall, there was a man from Long Island, NY who used to post here that got spicebush swallowtails. False nettle is a perennial that red admirals, question marks, and commas lay their eggs on, and it's attractive enough that you could make a bed for it, and that bed wouldn't be an eye sore. American ladies mainly use cudweed here, which does indeed look like a weed, but some people have reported finding them on dusty miller/Artemesia.

Ask all the questions you like!

Good luck!

Sherry

Yes, deer are living in rather odd areas now. We have deer that bed down for the night in the middle of someone's yard. Mind you, we do have a creek system that allows animals to travel from area to area. Most people have let the trees grow up around the creeks.

Tiger swallowtails are one of the few large butterflies that will survive in suburbia because many people plant tulip and ash trees, which they use. They find enough nectar here and there from butterfly bushes and annuals that people plant. I could start a rant here.

Anyhow, you are heading in the right direction. It just might take some time for things to "show up" in your yard.

Below I have linked the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) 's New Jersey website for you. That is the best place to go for information on what you should be able to attract to your yard and what plants to use. Most butterfly people are really friendly and like to share information (which is why this is the best board on Gardenweb :)). So, don't hesitate to email or call someone on the NABA website for more information. Also, if you can hook up with someone local, they may be willing to share plants and seeds. Local is always best as it has adapted to survive in your area.

Good luck,
Elisabeth

Here is a link that might be useful: NABA New Jersey

I began about four years ago and slowly, but surely, I'm beginning to see different butterflies visit my gardens. I live in a suburb of a medium sized city and to my knowledge, no neighbors plant anything other than ornamentals. Yet, to my surprise, my winged visitors are increasing with each succeeding season.

As others have suggested, plant host and nectar plants for your native butterflies. You will be surprised at how well you can incorporate these plants into your gardens. My gardens are small but with help from forum members here, I am slowly developing an area attractive to many of the little flying jewels. I not only have the pleasure of watching them nectar but for many varieties, I'm beginning to also see little cats on their host plants. It is amazing how they will gravitate to a garden growing the plants they need.

For instance, three years ago I planted three tiny spicebush starts (about 12 inches high and only one thin stalk). This year, for the first time, I'm seeing little cats of the spicebush swallowtail on the plants. As an added bonus, the fall leaf color of this plant is a lovely clear yellow, and if both a male and female plant are planted in the general growing area, there will also be berries for the birds.

Please consider planting milkweed of some sort for the Monarchs. Their habitat is rapidly declining and they need help from all gardeners. There are various species of milkweed to choose from so something that will fit into your gardens and grow well in your area is most do'able.

I'll let other forum members advise you but wanted to let you know that it can be done, even on a small scale and in suburbia.

Thank you for thinking of the butterflies and best of luck with your gardens.

Mary

If you haven't already checked this out already, this list of plants is from the New Jersey Native Plant Society.

Here is a link that might be useful: New Jersey Native Butterfly Host Plants