Butterflies have joined the endangered list because roads, housing developments, and mono-crop farming are steadily encroaching on their habitat. Fortunately, helping them out is easy and pleasant. All people have to do is create butterfly gardens with trees, shrubs, vines, ground-covers, and flowers that these beautiful insects need to survive. Many butterfly-nurturing plants are ones gardeners love anyway.
People are used to seeing butterflies on the bright flowers in their gardens, but if they pay attention they may notice them visiting non-flowering plants. These are the 'hosts' that caterpillars like to eat, so they are where adults lay their eggs. These host plants can be trees, shrubs, herbs, perennials, vines, and ground covers.
Even a window-box can help a hungry butterfly along its way to other things it needs. However, a true habitat will have food, shelter, and suitable watering places. Beneficial herbs include dill, fennel, the mints, hyssop, parsley, and rue. Dogwood, pawpaws, sassafras, and some kinds of magnolias are good caterpillar nurseries. Sunflowers, hollyhocks, and the magnificent butterfly bushes are great as a backdrop for shorter flowers like asters, Black-eyed Susan, nasturtiums, and echinacea. Milkweed (favored by Monarchs) comes in the wild variety plant and a bright orange version called butterfly weed.
Full sun is best for this kind of garden; the minimum amount of sun is about six hours. Butterflies are cold-blooded and need sun to warm up, so setting large rocks out or leaving areas of bare ground will give them places to bask. This can also lend visual interest to the garden. Think how pretty a kaleidoscope (one term for a group of butterflies) will be, sunning themselves on a bright morning.
For water, the butterfly prefers damp soil or sand. The edges of a mud puddle often attract a kaleidoscope, which is one term for a group of these insects. They are also called a swarm, a rabble, or a flutter. Well-planned gardens have 'puddling stations' of damp sand or soil. Some experts advocate placing rounded stones in shallow dishes of water or nailing sponges to the tops of posts and keeping them wet.
Many valuable nectar plants are the profuse blooms that gardeners love. Sweet alyssum, candytuft, and creeping phlox are colorful ground covers. Lantana, lavender, hyssop, catmint, and peppermint are herbs that attract all pollinators. The brilliant orange butterfly weed and the vigorous butterfly bush are tall perennials that fit well in the back of a bed. Vines can be trained over arbors or along fences and are virtually care-free.
A lot of native plants are low-maintenance, while some are spectacular in the garden. The purple blaze of Ironweed is hard to surpass, for instance. Bee balm is another wildflower that gardeners in zones three to eight have embraced. This wild herb comes in brilliant red or shades of blue and purple and will naturalize widely where it is happy. Coneflowers, which have been hybridized to give more colors than were found in wild varieties, are seldom troubled by deer or slugs. It's fun to find out which butterflies are native to your area and which wild plants will nurture them.
Butterflies like diversity, so it's fine to mix in favorites like roses, daffodils, allium, and lilies. It's easy to create a garden that works for both the butterflies and the humans. Remember to avoid systemic pesticides, since these permeate the entire plant (including the nectar) and kill both adult insects and the larvae.
People are used to seeing butterflies on the bright flowers in their gardens, but if they pay attention they may notice them visiting non-flowering plants. These are the 'hosts' that caterpillars like to eat, so they are where adults lay their eggs. These host plants can be trees, shrubs, herbs, perennials, vines, and ground covers.
Even a window-box can help a hungry butterfly along its way to other things it needs. However, a true habitat will have food, shelter, and suitable watering places. Beneficial herbs include dill, fennel, the mints, hyssop, parsley, and rue. Dogwood, pawpaws, sassafras, and some kinds of magnolias are good caterpillar nurseries. Sunflowers, hollyhocks, and the magnificent butterfly bushes are great as a backdrop for shorter flowers like asters, Black-eyed Susan, nasturtiums, and echinacea. Milkweed (favored by Monarchs) comes in the wild variety plant and a bright orange version called butterfly weed.
Full sun is best for this kind of garden; the minimum amount of sun is about six hours. Butterflies are cold-blooded and need sun to warm up, so setting large rocks out or leaving areas of bare ground will give them places to bask. This can also lend visual interest to the garden. Think how pretty a kaleidoscope (one term for a group of butterflies) will be, sunning themselves on a bright morning.
For water, the butterfly prefers damp soil or sand. The edges of a mud puddle often attract a kaleidoscope, which is one term for a group of these insects. They are also called a swarm, a rabble, or a flutter. Well-planned gardens have 'puddling stations' of damp sand or soil. Some experts advocate placing rounded stones in shallow dishes of water or nailing sponges to the tops of posts and keeping them wet.
Many valuable nectar plants are the profuse blooms that gardeners love. Sweet alyssum, candytuft, and creeping phlox are colorful ground covers. Lantana, lavender, hyssop, catmint, and peppermint are herbs that attract all pollinators. The brilliant orange butterfly weed and the vigorous butterfly bush are tall perennials that fit well in the back of a bed. Vines can be trained over arbors or along fences and are virtually care-free.
A lot of native plants are low-maintenance, while some are spectacular in the garden. The purple blaze of Ironweed is hard to surpass, for instance. Bee balm is another wildflower that gardeners in zones three to eight have embraced. This wild herb comes in brilliant red or shades of blue and purple and will naturalize widely where it is happy. Coneflowers, which have been hybridized to give more colors than were found in wild varieties, are seldom troubled by deer or slugs. It's fun to find out which butterflies are native to your area and which wild plants will nurture them.
Butterflies like diversity, so it's fine to mix in favorites like roses, daffodils, allium, and lilies. It's easy to create a garden that works for both the butterflies and the humans. Remember to avoid systemic pesticides, since these permeate the entire plant (including the nectar) and kill both adult insects and the larvae.
About the Author:
You can visit www.joyfulbutterfly.com for more helpful information about Create Butterfly Gardens As Sanctuaries.
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