Butterflies have joined the endangered list because roads, housing developments, and mono-crop farming are steadily encroaching on their habitat. Fortunately, helping them out is easy and pleasant. All people have to do is create butterfly gardens with trees, shrubs, vines, ground-covers, and flowers that these beautiful insects need to survive. Many butterfly-nurturing plants are ones gardeners love anyway.
People are used to seeing butterflies on the bright flowers in their gardens, but if they pay attention they may notice them visiting non-flowering plants. These are the 'hosts' that caterpillars like to eat, so they are where adults lay their eggs. These host plants can be trees, shrubs, herbs, perennials, vines, and ground covers.
A garden doesn't have to provide everything, of course. Even a window-box can give hungry insects a meal. However, it's fun to create a sanctuary, with everything the insects need during their entire life cycle. It all starts with the larvae. Herbs that caterpillars like include fennel, dill, parsley, and rue. Dogwoods, sassafras, pawpaw, and Sweet Bay magnolias are trees that feed larvae and adults. Garden favorites that serve as host plants include sunflowers, hollyhocks, Black-eyed Susan, asters, nasturtiums, and Echinacea. The wild passion flower vine and milkweed are valuable hosts; in fact, Monarch larvae only eat milkweed.
Full sun is best for this kind of garden; the minimum amount of sun is about six hours. Butterflies are cold-blooded and need sun to warm up, so setting large rocks out or leaving areas of bare ground will give them places to bask. This can also lend visual interest to the garden. Think how pretty a kaleidoscope (one term for a group of butterflies) will be, sunning themselves on a bright morning.
Butterflies are attracted to moist sand or dirt, an important water source. They find it at the edges of puddles or at 'puddling stations' especially set up by the gardener. Rounded stones placed in a shallow dish or bird bath also give insects safe access to water.
Many of the blooming plants gardeners love are valuable for their nectar. Sweet Alyssum, creeping phlox, and Candytuft are colorful ground covers. Lantana, hyssop, the mints, lavender, and marigolds are butterfly favorites. These low-growing plants and herbs can be grown in front of taller favorites like Butterfly Bush and milkweed. Vines trained on a fence or trellis provide both food and shelter while taking up little space.
Native plants are very low maintenance. Bee Balm is a wildflower that attract butterflies with its bright red flowers. Echinacea is another wildflower, which has been hybridized to get new colors. Many native plants are also deer and slug resistant. One way to have fun is to check out which butterflies are native to the area and choose indigenous plants to nurture them.
Mixing in cultivated favorites like roses, hyacinths, daffodils, and allium adds color and provides cut flowers for the house. These imported plants thrive in much of America, are hardy for years with proper care, and are attractive to many species of butterfly. They may require more care, but remember to avoid systemic pesticides, which will kill the butterflies as well as harmful insects.
People are used to seeing butterflies on the bright flowers in their gardens, but if they pay attention they may notice them visiting non-flowering plants. These are the 'hosts' that caterpillars like to eat, so they are where adults lay their eggs. These host plants can be trees, shrubs, herbs, perennials, vines, and ground covers.
A garden doesn't have to provide everything, of course. Even a window-box can give hungry insects a meal. However, it's fun to create a sanctuary, with everything the insects need during their entire life cycle. It all starts with the larvae. Herbs that caterpillars like include fennel, dill, parsley, and rue. Dogwoods, sassafras, pawpaw, and Sweet Bay magnolias are trees that feed larvae and adults. Garden favorites that serve as host plants include sunflowers, hollyhocks, Black-eyed Susan, asters, nasturtiums, and Echinacea. The wild passion flower vine and milkweed are valuable hosts; in fact, Monarch larvae only eat milkweed.
Full sun is best for this kind of garden; the minimum amount of sun is about six hours. Butterflies are cold-blooded and need sun to warm up, so setting large rocks out or leaving areas of bare ground will give them places to bask. This can also lend visual interest to the garden. Think how pretty a kaleidoscope (one term for a group of butterflies) will be, sunning themselves on a bright morning.
Butterflies are attracted to moist sand or dirt, an important water source. They find it at the edges of puddles or at 'puddling stations' especially set up by the gardener. Rounded stones placed in a shallow dish or bird bath also give insects safe access to water.
Many of the blooming plants gardeners love are valuable for their nectar. Sweet Alyssum, creeping phlox, and Candytuft are colorful ground covers. Lantana, hyssop, the mints, lavender, and marigolds are butterfly favorites. These low-growing plants and herbs can be grown in front of taller favorites like Butterfly Bush and milkweed. Vines trained on a fence or trellis provide both food and shelter while taking up little space.
Native plants are very low maintenance. Bee Balm is a wildflower that attract butterflies with its bright red flowers. Echinacea is another wildflower, which has been hybridized to get new colors. Many native plants are also deer and slug resistant. One way to have fun is to check out which butterflies are native to the area and choose indigenous plants to nurture them.
Mixing in cultivated favorites like roses, hyacinths, daffodils, and allium adds color and provides cut flowers for the house. These imported plants thrive in much of America, are hardy for years with proper care, and are attractive to many species of butterfly. They may require more care, but remember to avoid systemic pesticides, which will kill the butterflies as well as harmful insects.
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