I'm hoping that this page will be helpful to others starting a butterfly garden in a comparable climate. I'm a beginner at this, so I will be writing what I learn.

My backyard butterfly garden was born on St. Patrick's Day of 2002. After researching the topic and asking for advice  (receiving helpful comments like "The Danaus plexippus is attracted to Asclepias syriaca" Translation: Them yeller monarchs sure dig milkweed), I started my garden.

Being a naturalist-vegan-hippie-type, I decided that I wanted an all-organic bed with sun-loving perennials attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. 

I went to an Austin nursery called The Great Outdoors, an environmentally-conscious south Austin nursery. They recommended a safe compost, fertilizer, mulch, and several plants. I later added flowers and fertilizer from TexZen Gardens, a superb nursery in central Austin. What I loved about TexZen is the couple who run it: they are friendly and knowledgeable and offered great advice. Their shop provides customers with a user-friendly atmosphere for even the most ignorant of gardeners (me!). 

To start my garden, I outlined an area around a fountain a few yards from my birdscape. Then I dug 8-12 inches into the soil and removed the dirt, separating grass roots from the soil. While digging, I found three earthworms, Irving, Esther, and Antoine, whom I later returned to the humus-enriched soil. I added "turkey litter" compost and returned some of the soil. 

While the flowers were still in their pots on my picnic table, a giant swallowtail named Sinclair came for a visit!

Since my garden is a circular island on a slightly sloped landscape, I layered the plants by putting the tallest in the back. After planting, I added fertilizer and watered lightly.

 
Note: Playing with gardening tools can be hazardous to your health.

The last step was adding the Texas Native Hardwood Mulch, a little more water,  and some ornaments. The entire process from driving to the nursery to the final "Look, Ma!" took half a day.

The following weekend, my garden grew fatter. This time I actually measured the radius to make it round rather than irregularly shaped (or circularly challenged, if you prefer).

In addition, I added ladybugs. I bought a pack of live ladybugs from The Great Outdoors ($7.99). The cashier explained that they arrive about once a month from California. When I asked if the ladybugs already had names, I got a rather odd stare. Ladybugs are not famous merely for their good looks: they eat aphids (the bad guys). The packet of ladybugs claimed to contain 1500 of the critters. Having won several Guess the Number of Jellybeans contests in my youth, I feel compelled to note that I doubt the accuracy of that number. Nonetheless, the ladybugs, released at dusk as directed, have remained in my garden.

While I didn't get an immediate visitor of the butterfly persuasion, I did get a visitor of another type:

Ma, Is it another one of those Texas-size butterflies?

I will be updating this page with more details on what works and what doesn't for other folks interested in butterfly gardening in a comparable climate.