If you’re a fan of butterflies and if you love gardening, there’s a way for you to combine both of those obsessions into one beautiful and mind boggling place – the live butterfly garden!
It might sound daunting at first, but live butterfly gardens are actually easier to build and develop. The idea is that you grow and cultivate certain plants and shrubs in order to attract and retain one or more particular species of butterfly.
Let’s assume that you already know a thing or two about gardening – how to turn the soil over, get a few plants rooted, and then manage to keep them alive for a growing season. All you need to do is figure out what butterflies to target and what plants are most likely to drawn them in.
As a general rule, butterflies are more likely to be attracted to flowers that are grouped together by color. They’re easier to see! Keep your reds with your pinks and your blues with your violets. This basic step alone is likely to increase the butterfly population in your garden.
Butterflies are attracted to flowers for their nectar – that sweet liquid is what keeps the butterfly alive and well. Different species of butterfly have different tastes when it comes to the kinds of nectar they’re after. Don’t limit yourself to flowers only – butterflies are perfectly happy to help themselves to the flowers of herbs as well.
In other words, you aren’t going to lose your garden’s functionality by developing it with an eye toward butterflies.
You should also plan to keep a portion of your yard or garden safe and open for native flowering plants and weeds. It’s true that most people don’t think of dandelions or milkweed, say, as part of a typical garden. But their presence nearby are almost certain to increase the number of butterfly species visiting.
It might seem like a no-brainer but it is worth mentioning that you shouldn’t use any pesticides or other chemical materials where you’re planning on cultivating a butterfly habitat.
Butterflies are big on shelter – it keeps them safe from predators and from the weather. If you’re hoping they’ll stick around for a while, add a trellis. If you can put up a hedge, that’s great as well. Butterflies won’t sip from a birdbath, but will appreciate a patch of damp sand or soil from which to “drink.”
Keeping these tips in mind, look at your garden the way a butterfly would and then get to work. You’ll have a flock of colorful companions in no time.
(Photo by Winjer)
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