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Butterfly Garden Plan to Bring Butterflys into Your Garden
Want Butterflys 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 butterflys, as well as the caterpillars.
Pesticides also kill many (good Bugs) such as lady Bugs and Dragon Flies.
The life span of a Butterfly is very short. You will encourage more Butterflys 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 butterflys.
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.
A great book for the kids! Teaches them some fun 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 strawlike 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.
This Monarch Butterfly (pictured) loves my Butterfly Bush!
Watch this Video to see the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly
Create a Drinking Pool
Butterflys 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 butterflys!
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.
These are suggested flowers for your Butterfly garden, but there are many, many others you could use as well.
Below is a list of other
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
Coral Bells
Zinna- (Zinna Elegans)
More favorite flowers
Annise Hyssop
Yarrow
Goldenrod
Butterfly Bush
Trumpet Vine
Phlox
Create a Butterfly Garden in YOUR Region
Learn which favorite butterfly plants to add to your garden, to attract native Butterflys to your beautiful Butterfly Garden!
Midwest Region
Many butterflys 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
NorthEast Region
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
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Annise Hyssop
Phlox
