Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Most of us love having butterflies and moths visit our gardenscapes but the majority of us also hate having weeds—or unwanted plants—in our garden. However, some of those "weeds" that we often wage war on may be important host plants for some of our most iconic butterflies and moths.
In this video, I'll take you through 6 groups of common weeds that serve as the food plants to grow 20+ iconic butterflies and moths that are native to New York (and other places as well). These host plants are integral for the caterpillar stage of many butterflies and moths, so we may want to "rethink" our definition of "weed."
To see our other video highlighting popular horticultural pollinator plants that also serve as host plants for our native butterflies and moths, visit here: youtu.be/IyK0FWcTN0k
Most of us love having butterflies and moths visit our gardenscapes but the majority of us also hate having weeds—or unwanted plants—in our garden. However, some of those "weeds" that we often wage war on may be important host plants for some of our most iconic butterflies and moths.
In this video, I'll take you through 6 groups of common weeds that serve as the food plants to grow 20+ iconic butterflies and moths that are native to New York (and other places as well). These host plants are integral for the caterpillar stage of many butterflies and moths, so we may want to "rethink" our definition of "weed."
To see our other video highlighting popular horticultural pollinator plants that also serve as host plants for our native butterflies and moths, visit here: youtu.be/IyK0FWcTN0k
