By: Arista Hageman
The flittering, yellow and orange movement on the pink Echinacea flower in the distance outside my office window can only mean one thing. What a joy! The butterflies have finally arrived again. After a long (and very white) winter there is not a more welcome sight than the soft, playful rhythms and alluring color patterns of the monarch or the painted lady butterfly on each open blossom.
The butterfly garden itself is also a spectacular thing to behold as butterflies are attracted to some of the most striking flowers – zinnias, marigolds, rudbeckia, coreopsis, and asters just to name a few. Salvia, lavenders, verbena, thyme, sage, and bee balm – monarda – are also wonderfully fragrant choices to add to the butterfly garden. The butterfly bush , also called buddleia, is one particular plant that attracts such a wide variety of butterflies that it bears the general name.
When deciding on the best plants for your butterfly retreat, keep in mind that they enjoy feasting on a flower’s nectar as well as using the plant’s leaves for food as young caterpillars. For instance, the brilliant monarch butterfly will only feast on milkweed (Asclepias) as a caterpillar, while the swallowtail butterfly prefers the parsley plant. If you’re unsure what types of butterflies are common to your backyard, a field guide to butterflies will come in very handy. The guide should also describe what food, flowers, and habitat regional butterflies prefer at both the caterpillar and adult stages.
In addition to food, butterflies need water and places to relax, just like we do. Be sure to keep some type of wet area for butterflies to drink from, be it a shallow mud puddle or a moist bucket of sand in the sun. If you water your lawn or garden beds every day just make sure that some water lingers for them to drink from throughout the day. Butterflies also enjoy warming themselves on a sunny rock or other flat surface. Placing flat stones in the garden not only adds beauty and diversity to the landscape, but increases your chances of spotting these amazing creatures all day long!
Wind is one problem that may arise in the garden and will drive all types of butterflies away. It’s nearly impossible for butterflies to eat, drink, and relax when gusts of wind are threatening to whisk them away from their blossom filled with nectar. In order to avoid this trauma be sure to plant your attractor flowers (sunflowers, purple coneflowers, liatris) in a location protected from the wind. Even small gusts can be a problem for the tiny butterflies, so planting a hedgerow, erecting a fence, or installing trees to stop the wind from entering your garden site may be necessary.
Planning the butterfly garden to include all these components is essential, but above all, the use of pesticides and herbicides is strictly off limits. Your efforts to create a butterfly sanctuary will be to no avail if poisons are added to it or any place nearby. Organic gardening is perfect for nature and absolutely necessary in the butterfly habitat garden. More information on organic methods of weed control, fertilization, and pest control can be found in many books and websites available today.
Before you know it, you’ll be able to spot clouded sulfur, field crescent, fritillary, red and white admiral, and spring azure butterflies enjoying the garden you planted for them, so be sure to string up a hammock or place a garden bench nearby for hours of fluttering entertainment!
