Butterfly Garden Plan
Bring Butterflies into Your Garden
Want Butterflies in your garden? This butterfly garden plan will attract the delicate winged creatures to your garden.
Low maintence plants that do not require spraying or pesticides is a must!
Pesticides will kill the butterflies, as well as the caterpillars.
Pesticides also kill many (good Bugs) such as lady Bugs and Dragon Flies.
Find out which ones are the
Good Garden Bugs!
Butterfly Garden Plan Tips
Give Them What They want and they will come!
The life span of a Butterfly is very short. You will encourage more Butterflies to visit your garden, and continue the life cycle, if you plant a wide variety of nectar sources.
You also need an adequate supply of host plants for them to lay eggs. Only specific plants are chosen for laying eggs on. These are the plants the emerging caterpillars will use as food when they hatch.
Monarchs want Milkweed
Black Swallowtails prefer Parsley
Buckeyes like Snapdragons
Butterfly Plants,are sun lovers. The butterflys also need the warmth of the sun to warm their bodies for flight.
Many can't fly unless their body temperature is around 86 degrees. My Butterfly garden plan includes stepping stones for them to bask in the sun.
It also includes a bird bath for a watering source.
Their favorite plants have strong scents, and bright colors. They like red, orange, yellow, purple, and dark pink.
Planting native plants, will attract the local butterflies.
Be sure to incorporate many into your butterfly garden plan.
Large flowered plants, with flat shapes are easiest for the butterflys to land and feed on, so use them freely in your butterfly garden.
Some Interesting Facts about Butterflies
Did You Know?
~~That butterflies taste with their feet? They taste the leaf or flower when they land on it. It's how they find plants to feed and lay eggs on. This way, when the eggs hatch.. the food is readily available to them!
Butterflies do not have mouths, they have a proboscis, which is a long straw-like structure from which they drink nectar and liquids for energy.
~~They love rotting fruit, so if you have an over-ripe banana, why not peel it and give your insect friends a treat!!
~~Migrating Butterflies such as the Monarch, will migrate several thousand miles!
~~When feeding on flowers, the butterflies transfer pollen from one flower to another.
~~Every touch a butterfly and notice a white dust on your hands?
The wings of a butterfly are covered with scales that come off as dust when it is handled.
~~When at rest, they hold their wings vertically over their back.
Before you create your Butterfly Plan, Learn more about the Butterflies....
Watch this Video to see the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly
More Things your Butterflies will Need
Create a Drinking Pool
Butterflies like mud puddles in which to take in nutrients and salts.
You can make one in your butterfly garden, by simply using a plastic or terra cotta saucer (the kind you use to go under your container plants).
Fill the saucer with half sand, and half composted manure. Fill it with water, and you have an instant (watering hole) for your butterflies! This Butterfly Garden Plan, includes flowers planted in groups. Butterflys like clusters of small flowers, so they can draw nectar from many flowers without having to take off again.
Favorite Butterfly Garden Flowers
- Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)~New England aster (aster novae-anglia)
- Lantana (Lantana camara)~ Verbena~ Starflower (Pentas Lanceolata)
- Stokes' Aster (Stokesia laevis)~ Nepeta- Catmint
- Dianthus~ Colombine (Aquliegia)~ Delphinium
- Zinna (Zinna Elegans)~ Coral Bells
This little butterfly is enjoying a zinna in my garden. I have a wide variety of flowers in the gardens, so I attract a good number of butterflies. They are a common sight out in the garden. The grand-kids love to wander around looking at them, and occasionally getting photographed with them.
They've learned long ago not to try to touch them, but occassionaly a finger gently touches the back of one feeding, (to the amazement of the 4 yr. old)that it is real, as it flys off in search of another flower. They are so beautiful, that even the very young are amazed by them.
My Butterfly bush is the best (butterfly) magnet in the garden. When it is in full bloom, I've seen as many as 10 butterflies on it at one time!
Wondering where to buy these favorite butterfly flowers? DirectGardening.com - Offers quality plants at great prices, come see what we mean!More Favorite Flowers for Your Butterfly Garden Plan
- Annise Hyssop
- Yarrow
- Goldenrod
- Butterfly Bush
- Trumpet Vine
Phlox, which comes in a large variety of colors, ranging from whites, pinks, reds, purples, blues, and many two tones ones. These are very popular with the butterflies.
One flower stalk contains many flowers, which is exactly what they like.
Create a Butterfly Garden in YOUR Region
Learn which favorite butterfly plants to add to your garden, to attract native Butterflies to your beautiful Butterfly Garden!
Midwest Region
Many butterflies overwinter in your wood pile, so if possible, leave a small pile for the butterflys!
Native Butterflys
Eastern Black Swallowtail, Question Mark, Hackberry Emperor
Best Plants
Sneezeweed, Bluebeard, Globe Thistle
Northwest Region
This region has a mix of very different weather and temperature conditions. The beautiful Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii), is invasive in most of this region, so don't plant it! (Banned for sale in Oregon)
Native Butterflys
Woodland Skipper, Green Comma, Swallowtail
Best Plants Goldenrod, Turtlehead,Tall Sedum, Pincushion
Hot Summers, cold winters, not to extreme, making this region a good area for a great butterfly garden plan.
Native Butterflys
Monarch, Baltimore Checkerspot, Red Spotted Purple,Harvester
Best Plants New England Aster, Summersweet, Butterfly Bush, Yarrow
SouthEast Region
This is certainly the best place for Butterflys! If you garden in this region.....Create a Butterfly Garden!
Native Butterflys
Zebra Swallowtails, Red Banded Hairstreak, Cloudless Sulphur
Best Plants
Starflower,Glossy Abelia, Verbena
See more Different Flowers for more ideas for your Butterfly Garden Plan
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