Over the years I have spent a lot of money buying 'nectar flowers', as a way of enticing butterflies here, however usually the plants don't do well because our Summers are hot and dry and we don't have enough water to keep the garden going.
In walking around the area where we live, I had noticed how butterflies flocked to the Verbena growing along the side of the road. The plant is considered a weed, here, so no-one bothers with it. It's a really tough plant and seems to withstand hot, dry, summers well. One day last summer, while we were out walking, I brought a plant home and planted it. That plant has done well and must have thrown out some seed because this summer we have even more plants popping up.
The little purple flowers have gone on blooming for months and now, in hot dry February, they are still great with many butterflies coming to them each day.
These photos show just a few of the butterflies that visited us today, We are loving it.