Butterfly Gardening - Just The Basics

Do you love the delicate look of the butterfly? You can create a butterfly garden on your own property with such ease. Even helping a community create the same garden can be satisfying. Follow these simple rules in order to get started.

The Basics

Location: Butterflies need protection from nature's weather like the wind and rain, but they also need the warmth from the sun. So a covered but sunny spot in your garden will be just perfect.

Nectar Sources: Butterflies love colorful flowers. So not only will you get the joy of looking at the butterflies, but the gorgeous flowers as well. Choose simple flowers with a constant blooming. If the flowers bloom more than once, not continuous, there is not enough space to reach the nectar.

Caterpillar Food Plants (Host/larval plants): Caterpillar plants produce a lot of nectar, which is what attracts the butterflies. So be more careful in the winter so the caterpillars can keep these plants alive for your garden in the spring.

Moisture: Butterflies need dampness in the garden to cool off from the sun.

Pesticides: These are very harmful to the butterflies. You can plant certain flowers to keep the useful insects in your garden. They will keep the other critters away and the butterflies will not get harmed. If you just take the time, you can search on the Internet and find so much information about Butterfly Gardening.

Sunshine

Butterflies are cold-blooded so they need the warmth from the sun. Besides flowers, they also like pavement in your driveway since it heats up quickly.

Moisture

In order to stay alive, they need moisture as well as nectar. Butterflies love the minerals in damp soil, so you will find them there often. Butterflies will go to areas that are moist and that catch the sun's warmth.

Flowers

As mentioned before, the beautiful butterfly is attracted to the beautiful flowers in your garden. So you get two for the price of one! The garden should be in an area where the sun is present for at least half of the day. Native plants are the best way to be a focus for native butterflies. There are many different sources that can be used, just check on the various websites to get the best for your area. Think of what the butterfly wants for flowers since it is them you want around. They love milkweeds and Monarch caterpillars will nest here as well.

Think of a rose with its thorns. Thistle is comparative to that. The thorns serve as caterpillar food and therefore will attract your butterflies later. There may be rules against growing thistle, so check to make sure first. Some of the butterfly favorites may not necessarily go with your garden desires, but you can always place them in a neglected corner. Check with the laws first, but these weeds are great to keep around - alfalfa, dandelions, dogbanes, heal-all and other mints, various mustards, and wild strawberry. Remember that these plants are weeds, and will want to take over the rest of the garden, but you can take control of that with little effort.

Selecting Plants

First off, you need to research what plants are available in your area. You also need to find out how to care for them, when they will bloom and what they will look like. These are all important to the design of what you want in your garden. Remember that some plants or bushes will take longer to develop, so you can fill in with other nectar bearing plants. Keep notes on which flowers the butterflies like best, visit different parks in your area and ask many questions. You will probably notice that different types of butterflies like different types of flowers and if you have some facts to help you out, your garden will succeed.

Caterpillar food Plants

You will need to provide plants that will offer nectar to the adult butterflies, but don't forget the caterpillars. If you plant parsley, dill, fennel, and/or carrots, you will attract the caterpillars of Black Swallowtails. It is best to plant something that will offer food to both caterpillars and butterflies. The following are a few suggestions - clovers, sunflowers, wild buckwheat, wild cherries and mustards. Ashes, blackberries, oaks, violets, and willows are also great food ideas.

Cover

Butterflies need protection. Fallen leaves, tree bark and bushes offer such needed protection for our beautiful friends. In climate weather the leaves offer a great place to hibernate during the winter. Just be sure to follow your local area's rules about the dryness of plants.

Pest control

The quickest way to get rid of pests is to use pesticides, but this is not good for our butterflies. If you must use them, do so sparingly. You can always ask your local agriculture office for more tips. Growing flowers that attract bug-eating insects is your best way to go. Even if an insect is on your flower, does not mean it is doing harm

Butterfly Watching

The best is among us - time to watch the beautiful garden you have created. A couple rules to remember while watching:

Go slow

Stay low

Approach from behind

Don't cross the butterfly with your shadow.

You must exercise patience with these fascinating creatures; very little changes in their environment will scare them away. Sit back and enjoy! But if you really want an up close view, use binoculars with close range.

What to Expect

You will soon realize just how rewarding this new garden is. Even though it is a lot of hard work, do not expect many butterflies at once. There will only be as many as the habitat can hold. Just spend as many warm, sunny days in your garden and you will see what you created!

Caution

You will have more respect for your yard after this experience. You will know how important it is to keep your garden and yard maintained. The plants, animals, caterpillars, butterflies and you depend on it. It is easy to forget that one thing such as a simple nectar plant can affect everything in your world.