There is something so peaceful about watching butterflies in your garden. If you are new to butterfly gardening, or just want to attract as many as possible, check out the tips below and don’t forget to join us for the Butterfly Gardening Seminar.
1) Start with Nectar Plants – Nectar plants are food for the adult butterflies. Pentas, salvia, firecracker, firebush . . . there are so many to choose from. Before you head on to host plants like milkweed, make sure you’ve got plenty of flowers for the butterflies to feed on.
2) Hide Host Plants – Host plants are food for the caterpillars. Design your garden so that host plants like milkweed are hidden by other prettier plants. Caterpillars are voracious and you may not have much of the host plants left.
3) Don’t use pesticides – on or near your butterfly garden. Even organic insecticides are intended to kill insects and, as pretty as they are, butterflies are still bugs. We often get asked about aphids and milkweed bugs. Control aphids by pruning and disposing of affected branches and leaves, or by introducing ladybugs into your butterfly garden. For milkweed bugs, it’s the old flick and squish that tends to work the best.
4) Plant a variety – To attract butterflies of all shapes and sizes, plant flowers of different shapes, colors and sizes. A butterfly’s feeding appendage is called a proboscis and each species has one of a slightly different size, so a variety of flowers creates the best opportunity for all types of butterflies to find food.
5) Be a little wild – Your HOA may not approve, but leaving some of your yard wild and overgrown provides shelter, wild food sources, and puddling opportunities for butterflies. You’ll have the most consistent butterfly populations if there are wild areas near or in your yard.
Now get out and enjoy!