Butterflies are awesome. They make your entire yard seem like a nature retreat. Integrating plants that attract them into your garden is s super simple way to ensure you’ll get to enjoy them. The best part is that butterflies have excellent taste, the plants and flowers that attract them are pretty and make your garden a better place. Now, before I go on to explain how to plant a butterfly garden, shall we all hold hands and sing Kumbaya?
There are literally HUNDREDS of plants/flowers that will attract butterflies. Each different species of butterflies have different preferences, so your best bet is to plant a variety of plants to ensure you get a variety of butterflies. {As an added bonus, butterflies flitting from flower to flower helps to pollinate the flowers, and most of the plants that attract butterflies, also attract bees–so basically your entire garden will thank you.} Different colors attract butterflies in different stages of life, so make sure you have a variety of colors represented too.
To create a butterfly garden, first decide on plants. Here is a list of potentials to choose from {this is by no means exhaustive}:
- Black-eyed Susans
- Aster
- Daylilies
- Pawpaws
- Lavendar
- Hibiscus
- Lilac
- Butterfly bush {duh!}
- Daisies
- Echinacea {or Cone Flower}
- Verbena
- Rosemary
- Marigolds
- Oregano
- Milkweed {this is pretty much essential if you want to host the butterfly from caterpillar through adult life}
Once you have decided on plants, you can simply plant them by integrating them into your existing garden. Each plant has different sunlight/water requirements, so choose your planting location accordingly. The more you spread the plantings out, the more likely every corner of your yard will get some butterfly activity. On the flipside, if you want a concentration of butterflies, try planting your choices in tight clusters.
If you really want to be hospitable, set a shallow pan with sand and water out near the plants/flowers for the butterflies to drink from. The more hospitable the environment, the longer the butterfly will stay.
~Mavis
**Remember that butterflies are extremely sensitive to pesticides, so if you don’t garden the organic route, you will want to check that whatever you lay across your yard won’t obliterate your efforts.
Cecily says
Add some carrots to your butterfly garden. Black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars eat the tops.
Bryan says
I’ve heard many different times not to plant butterfly bush as it’s invasive. While it does provide nectar for beneficial insects, that’s all it provides. In addition, it doesn’t stay on your property and can spread.
Any thoughts on that?
Linda Caufield says
Find a variety of milkweed that grows in your area and add it to your garden. Milkweed is not a weed, but is a native plant important as a pollinator and nectar source. Not only will you be adding a beautiful and fragrant native plant to your garden, you will be providing Monarch butterflies with a crucial food source. After the Monarch as it lays its’ eggs on the milkweed leaves, the milkweed is the only food source as the larvae grows from caterpillar to pupa to butterfly. The declining presence of milkweed, which previously grew abundantly around agricultural land all across America, has been correlated to the huge decline Monarch butterflies in recent years.. The efforts of individual gardeners are small but important steps in reversing this trend.