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.
Butterflies like bright colors, so many native and cultivated plants that attract them also please gardeners who want pretty borders. However, all kinds of plants are important as 'hosts' for the larvae and to provide nectar for the adults. These include trees, shrubs, perennials, herbs, ground covers, and vines.
Even a window box of flowers can help, but a diverse planting can be a sanctuary. Herb gardens are great, since parsley, dill, fennel, rue, and others are hosts. So are dogwoods, Sweet Bay magnolias, sassafras, and pawpaw trees. Other plants double as nectar plants, including hollyhocks, nasturtiums, sunflowers, Black-eyed Susan, asters, and Echinacea. Milkweed is the only food Monarch larvae eat, while passion flower vines are a host for other species.
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.
For water, the butterfly prefers damp soil or sand. The edges of a mud puddle often attract a kaleidoscope, which is one term for a group of these insects. They are also called a swarm, a rabble, or a flutter. Well-planned gardens have 'puddling stations' of damp sand or soil. Some experts advocate placing rounded stones in shallow dishes of water or nailing sponges to the tops of posts and keeping them wet.
Many valuable nectar plants are the profuse blooms that gardeners love. Sweet alyssum, candytuft, and creeping phlox are colorful ground covers. Lantana, lavender, hyssop, catmint, and peppermint are herbs that attract all pollinators. The brilliant orange butterfly weed and the vigorous butterfly bush are tall perennials that fit well in the back of a bed. Vines can be trained over arbors or along fences and are virtually care-free.
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.
Butterflies like bright colors, so many native and cultivated plants that attract them also please gardeners who want pretty borders. However, all kinds of plants are important as 'hosts' for the larvae and to provide nectar for the adults. These include trees, shrubs, perennials, herbs, ground covers, and vines.
Even a window box of flowers can help, but a diverse planting can be a sanctuary. Herb gardens are great, since parsley, dill, fennel, rue, and others are hosts. So are dogwoods, Sweet Bay magnolias, sassafras, and pawpaw trees. Other plants double as nectar plants, including hollyhocks, nasturtiums, sunflowers, Black-eyed Susan, asters, and Echinacea. Milkweed is the only food Monarch larvae eat, while passion flower vines are a host for other species.
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.
For water, the butterfly prefers damp soil or sand. The edges of a mud puddle often attract a kaleidoscope, which is one term for a group of these insects. They are also called a swarm, a rabble, or a flutter. Well-planned gardens have 'puddling stations' of damp sand or soil. Some experts advocate placing rounded stones in shallow dishes of water or nailing sponges to the tops of posts and keeping them wet.
Many valuable nectar plants are the profuse blooms that gardeners love. Sweet alyssum, candytuft, and creeping phlox are colorful ground covers. Lantana, lavender, hyssop, catmint, and peppermint are herbs that attract all pollinators. The brilliant orange butterfly weed and the vigorous butterfly bush are tall perennials that fit well in the back of a bed. Vines can be trained over arbors or along fences and are virtually care-free.
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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