Oftentimes gardeners focus on picking up just one or two plants known to attract butterflies and then are disappointed by the lack of winged beauty floating through their yard. There are several things that can be done to help increase a garden's appeal to butterfly visitors.
Group Butterfly Attractive Plants in Sweeps or Masses
Adult butterflies looking for a meal are more likely to notice a garden with several flowering butterfly plants rather than the one zinnia growing in a mailbox planter. To attract the maximum number of butterflies to a wildlife landscape, gardeners should plant multiples of some of the butterfly's favorite plants. That way the butterfly garden is easier to notice and there will be an increased number of winged visitors to the landscape!
Plant Butterfly Plants to Host Larvae (Caterpillars)
In addition to food, the adult butterfly needs a safe place to lay it's eggs. Wildlife landscapers who want to attract as many butterflies as possible should consider planting not only plants that have flowers full of nectar, but also provide plants with edible foliage that caterpillars are known to appreciate. Some of these are common plants for butterflies to lay their eggs upon:
- Milkweeds
- Hollyhock
- Carrot
- Dill
- Fennel
- Sage
- Citrus trees
- Poplars
By giving butterflies a place to lay their eggs, gardeners might be able to observe the life cycle of a butterfly as they emerge from cocoons hidden within the butterfly garden.
Plants With Nectar for Butterflies to Eat
These include what most gardeners think of as typical butterfly garden plants, because these are the flowering plants that attract adult butterflies. Most of these flowers are brightly colored, especially in yellow, red and orange hues. The plants for butterflies also tend to have flat-topped flower clusters that allow the butterflies an easy place to land. Some of the most popular butterfly attracting plants include:
- Bee balm (Monarda)
- Cosmos
- Lilac
- Aster
- Marigold
- Sweet pea
- Verbena
- Zinnias
Planting one or more of these butterfly plants in large sweeps or masses that will be easily seen, will help create the active butterfly garden desired by many gardeners.
Provide Water, Shelter and Other Butterfly Foods
To further increase the number of butterflies in the landscape, a gardener can provide other things that a butterfly will be looking for. A shallow dish of water will provide the butterflies with a drink when they are thirsty. Care must be taken to prevent accidental drownings, so an ideal solution is a shallow bird bath filled with stones that allow an butterfly to land on the rocks and drink without fear of getting wet.
Butterflies also appreciate shelter from strong wind gusts. Gardeners can take this into account when planning wind break hedges, or fences around the perimeter of their landscapes. Some butterflies also appreciate the unique nutrients provided by rotting fruit so any apple cores or orange pulp leftover from juicing, can be added to a dish in a quiet place of the garden. These additional steps will make a simple butterfly garden a true paradise!
Keeping these simple tips in mind can help gardeners create a successful butterfly garden that will attract many butterflies, at various stages of life, to the home landscape.
Angela England - Angela England is a problogger, mother of four (yes I know what causes that), speaker, teacher, labor doula, gardener and so much more.
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