Skip to main content

How to Grow a Butterfly Garden

By planting and maintaining a butterfly garden you will be rewarded with nature’s beauty all summer long.

To draw butterflies you must select plants that produce nectar, as well as, host plants for butterfly eggs and caterpillars.

Host plants give food for caterpillars and a safe haven for butterflies to lay their eggs. Newly hatched caterpillars cannot travel far; therefore, the butterfly will lay its eggs on the preferred plants. If hungry caterpillars munching holes in your plants causes you grief, place these host plants in a less conspicuous area. However, be sure not to plant them too far from the nectar producing plants, otherwise butterflies will not lay their eggs on them.

Here is a list of some of the more common butterflies and their favored hosting plants.

  • Anise Swallowtail: prefers citrus plants and sweet fennel

    Image courtesy of: http://www.exploringnature.org

  • Black Swallowtail: prefers dill, fennel and parsley
  • Checkered Skipper: prefers hollyhock
  • Monarch: prefers milkweed
  • Painted Lady: prefers hollyhock, sunflower and thistle
  • Red Admiral: prefers nettle and pellitory
  • Spicebush Swallowtail: prefers sassafras and spice bush

After selecting your host plants you will need to select your nectar plants. Nectar producing plants give food for butterflies and help to attract new butterflies to your garden.

When choosing your nectar plants, try to choose plants that provide blooms throughout the growing season. You can also add nectar feeders to your garden to increase your butterfly population.

Here is a list of nectar plants to plant in your butterfly garden:

  • Annuals: 
    • calendula,
    • flowering tobacco,
    • heliotrope,
    • inpatients,
    • marigold,
    • petunia,
    • phlox,
    • rosemary,
    • sunflower,
    • verbena,
    • zinnias
  • Perennials: 
    • aster,
    • bee balm,
    • bergamot,
    • black-eyed Susan,
    • blazing star,
    • butterfly weed,
    • chrysanthemums,
    • daylily,
    • goldenrod,
    • heather,
    • hollyhock,
    • hyssop,
    • milkweed,
    • oxeye daisy,
    • peony,
    • peppermint,
    • Queen Anne’s lace,
    • sedum,
    • spearmint,
    • sunflower,
    • yarrow
  • Trees and Shrubs: 
    • azalea,
    • blackberry,
    • black willow,
    • blueberries,
    • butterfly bush,
    • buttonbush,
    • lilac,
    • meadowsweet,
    • mockorange,
    • privets,
    • pussy willow,
    • sumacs

Once all of your plants have been selected you will have to plan out your planting scheme. Taller plants should be planted in the back. Smaller plants should be placed in the front. A good way to plan your garden is to sit down with paper and colored pencils and draw a diagram.

When you begin planting, take into consideration how large the adult plants will be. Each plant will need a generous amount of growing room.

Caution: Pesticides, soaps and oils may kill caterpillars if they are in direct contact or feed on these items. Adding ground beetles, ladybird beetles and lacewings can help control pests naturally.


Share this Image On Your Site

 

 

 

 

 

The post How to Grow a Butterfly Garden appeared first on Downtown Homestead.



from Downtown Homestead http://downtownhomestead.com/grow-butterfly-garden
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Changes Can I Make to My Garden to Be More Natural?

Gardening has changed a bit in recent years as people’s philosophy of gardening is starting to change to go back to more natural and organic methods. For those who have been gardening for a number of years, these new practices might be a bit hard to understand at first since the traditional ways of doing things is adding chemicals to the soil or plants to take care of problems and grow larger plants. Organic methods work a bit differently. Traditional methods use chemical fertilizers to add nutrients to the soil. Organic methods use compost . This is organic matter and carbon matter mixed together. This would be things like fruit peels, vegetables, grass, hay, leaves, and other types of waste mixed together. Over time it breaks down into rich soil that doesn’t need any fertilizer at all. A good compost is natural and doesn’t require extra chemicals. Pest control is a bit more difficult since you don’t want to use chemicals on your plants that end up killing everything. There are a fe...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Create an Evening Oasis of Bloom and Fragrance

I think it is equally important to turn your outside space into a place to feed your family, but not overlook the chance to escape into it. We have a suburban house, that has a backyard backed up to 5 other yards, so we wanted to create a perfect little oasis for ourselves to escape into. So, we are creating a moonlight garden, to give us a perfect little escape for those late-night bonfires.   Many plants bloom in the evening, particularly in warm climates, and their delicious fragrance can be smelled on the breeze perfuming the whole area. The flowers are usually white or light yellow.   One vine that I especially like is an annual called, appropriately enough, moonflower. It’s in the same family as morning glories and the large white flowers can be up to 6 inches across and very fragrant.   The great thing about this plant is the way it opens its flowers. The large buds look like furled white beach umbrellas. But look again. Did you see the bud move? As the twili...
Post a Comment
Read more

Soil Basics – Creating Fertile, Healthy Soil

Have you ever looked at the soil in your garden and considered it as anything more than dirt? If not you should because there is a lot more there than meets the eye. It performs many functions that you may not be aware of and having good quality soil in your garden is essential for your plants. In this article we will look at the functions of soil, what different types there are and finally some ways to make it healthier. Functions of Soil The most immediately apparent function of soil is a medium to support plant life. It provides support both physically and biologically. Physical support is provided by allowing the plant to grow its roots through the soil to hold itself in place. Biological support is provided by its ability to hold nutrients and water that the plant needs. It also supports other types of life as well. Microorganisms and insects live in the soil and they in turn aid plant life by helping to decay organic material and adding structure to the soil. Soil allows the gr...
Post a Comment
Read more