Butterfly Gardens

Butterfly Gardens

Everyone loves butterflies but knowing how to keep and attract them to your home is really quite easy. There is no minimum size to a Butterfly garden; they can be as small as a container or window planter, or as large as your can design and build. What you want to create is a complete environment that will not only attract butterflies but will also entice them to lay their eggs; so you will want plants that caterpillars would love to eat too. In essence, you will create a complete ecosystem for all stages of their life.

First you will need to do a little research on your local area as to what butterflies are common, then you can begin searching for the best nectar and host plants for your butterfly garden. Monarch butterfly caterpillars like Milkweed, the Common Snout-Nosed wants hackberries and so it is important to know what butterflies live where you live. You also should know that what caterpillars eat is not what a Butterfly gets its nourishment from. Butterflies drink their food thus they need nectar bearing flowers and plants which hold water on their leaves. Caterpillars eat leaves.

The following is a partial list of host plants for butterfly egg laying and caterpillar food:

Monarch ? Milkweed
Swallowtail ? parsley, parsnips, carrots, fennel, anise, pipe vine, snakeroot
Great Southern White ? mustard
Zebras, Julia, Gulf Fritillary ? passion flower leaves
Greater and Lesser Fritillaries ? violets
Comma ? nettle and hops

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Garden Tip...

Seeds that are exceptionally fine, like those of Lobelias, Petunias, Ferns, and other very tiny seeds, ought never to be covered deeper than the sixteenth of an inch, with very fine soil sifted on them through a fine sieve; the soil should then be lightly patted down with the back of a shovel. This will prevent the seeds from shriveling before they start to germinate.
~ James Sheehan
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Buckeye ? plantain and gerardia
Red Admiral ? nettles
Common Blue ? dogwood flowers
California Sister ? live oak
Fawn ? birch and elder

Nectar bearing plants and flowers include the following varieties:

Lantana (full sun)
Zinnias (partial to full sun)
Sage (full sun)
Sunflower (full sun)
Butterfly bush and weeds (partial to full sun)
Bee balm (partial to full sun)
Lilac (partial to full sun)
Marjoram (partial to full sun)
Hebe (partial to full sun)
Pentas (partial to full sun)
Purple Coneflowers (partial to full sun)

Butterflies require sunlight in order to regulate their body temperature, but just like us humans too much sun can also be harmful, so any butterfly garden should have both full sunlight and partial shade to offer the best of everything. As with any garden, proper soil or bed preparation is important as is adequate nutrients and water for the plants you select. Also, placement of the plants in your garden is equally important for their survival. You should not put plant requiring full sun in the shaded areas and vise-versa. With the right planning and proper care, you can create a complete lifecycle environment for your butterflies.
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Garden Tip...

There are many different species and varieties of Lilies, but none approach those known as Japan Lilies in the beauty and variety of their flowers, and their exquisite fragrance. They are perfectly hardy, and the fall is the proper time to plant them. If good strong bulbs are set out in the ground in October or November, planted about eight inches deep, they will throw up strong shoots the following summer, and bloom freely. The flowers increase in size and beauty with the age of the bulb, and this should be left to grow undisturbed in the same spot for five or six years; afterwards, if desired, the bulbs can be dug up, the offshoots removed, and the old bulbs reset, and they will do better than ever. Any of the young bulbs that have been removed can be planted out in the ground, and in a few years will form good blooming bulbs. The time to perform this work is in the fall.
~ James Sheehan
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