At Las Pilitas nursery  we sell California native plants  to attract birds and butterflies.

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Painted Lady Butterfly, Vanessa cardui

picture of a painted lady butterfly on a Lobelia dunnii
California Native flowers used by the Painted Lady Butterfly

One of their favorite flowers is Lobelia dunnii. A small water loving perennial with bright blue flowers. Also, like many other butterfly species, they like California aster, Aster chilensis.

picture of a Painted lady butterfly on a Lobelia dunniiCalifornia aster is a floriferous perennial about two feet in height.

The Painted Lady Butterfly is found throughout most of the world.

It is similar to the West Coast Lady as they both have many small dots on the underside of the hind wing. The west coast lady has an orange spot along with the white ones on the edge of the upper fore wing. The American Painted Lady has two very large eye spots on the underside of the hind wing.

picture of a Painted lady butterfly on  California AsterCalifornia Native Plants eaten by the larva of the Painted Lady butterfly

The Painted Lady butterfly eats mainly Cirsium spp. In California, California Thistle, Cirsium californicum, and Red Thistle, Cirsium proteanum are common. White forget-me-not, Cryptantha spp., and Fiddle-neck, Amsinkia spp. are also eaten to a lesser degree. Mallow, Malva spp. and Stinging Nettle, Urtica spp. are also eaten but not as much so.