Butterfly gardens

Butterfly gardens

Creating butterfly gardens is another wonderful way to enjoy nature in your yard and garden. Like birds, creating gardens which will attract butterflies is as easy as putting out plants, water features, and housing areas designed just for them.

One of the best kinds of plants you can have in a butterfly garden is a butterfly bush. These grow quite fast and large though, so you’ll need to make sure you have room before planting them.

It’s not uncommon for a butterfly bush to grow four feet or more in a year, so if you have friends or family who already grow them, you may want to consider taking a cutting from theirs to get yours started. Butterfly bushes come in a variety of colors too, so you’ll be able to pick and choose your favorites, or colors that compliment the rest of your garden design.

======================================
Garden Tip...

In summer, watering in the cool of the evening will be followed by the best results, for it will give the plants time to take up and assimilate the moisture necessary to their life, and being completely charged with water, they will be prepared for the hot sun and drying winds of the following day.
~ James Sheehan
======================================

Another excellent plant to put in your garden which works wonderfully for attracting butterflies is called a butterfly weed. These are much smaller than the bushes, so they can be grown in small garden spaces or patio containers.

======================================
Garden Tip...

Those who raise seed for the market take great pains to produce none but good, sound seeds, and in nine cases out of ten, where seeds fail to germinate and grow, the fault is with those who sow them, and not on account of poor quality of seed. This we know from experience.
~ James Sheehan
======================================
there are a wide variety of plants and flowers which will attract butterflies to your garden. Butterflies like nectar just as hummingbirds do though, so sometimes you can attract both into the same garden. One of the most difficult parts of creating a butterfly garden though, is the amount of time you must be patient. Butterflies take time to develop. You must create habitats which are friendly for both the grown butterflies and the larvae caterpillars which will emerge from the eggs they lay.

Once the eggs hatch too, your new caterpillars will start eating the host plants too. Many gardeners who aren’t familiar with this cycle will sometimes think something is wrong with their garden when they see spots caterpillars have been feeding on, so the Spray chemicals thinking that the plants have some Kind of bug or disease. If you spray the plants of course though, you’ll usually kill the caterpillars. And if you do that of course, you won’t end up with any butterflies.

Now in addition to putting plants and flowers in your garden to attract butterflies, there are little butterfly houses you can buy for both decoration and functionality too. Like bird houses, butterfly houses will provide butterflies safe and comfortable places to live, nest, and lay eggs. So providing these in your garden is almost guaranteed to start helping you build an active butterfly community in your yard.

Butterflies like water features too though, so be sure you’re providing this in an easily accessible area of your butterfly garden. If you don’t mind having different wildlife using the same things in your garden, you’ll probably be fine using a bird bath for both birds and butterflys. Just be sure to clean it out regularly without soap or chemicals, so it will stay a healthy and fun place for the wildlife to bath, drink and play.

Sphere: Related Content

Related posts:

1. Butterfly Gardens Butterfly Gardens Everyone loves butterflies but knowing how to keep...
2. Bird houses and feeders Bird houses and feeders Putting bird houses, bird baths, and...
3. Love Butterflies? Include the Plants that Attract them in your Garden Design Love Butterflies? Include the Plants that Attract them in your...
4. Attracting birds to your garden Attracting birds to your garden One of the greatest joys...
5. Hummingbird gardens Hummingbird gardens If you've ever watched tiny hummingbirds hovering around...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.