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Butterfly Gardening

Butterfly Gardens

Mar 26th, 2011
by ButterflyLover.
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Underside of a Danaus plexippus plexippus feed...

UNDERSIDE OF A MONARCH BUTTERFLY (DANAUS PLEXIPPUS PLEXIPPUS) FEEDING ON NECTAR FROM AN ECHINACEA PURPUREA FLOWER Image via Wikipedia

Have you seen a couple of butterflies fluttering about your yard and would like to see more? With a butterfly garden you can grow both the plants that caterpillars like to eat and also the plants the adult butterflies enjoy as well.

By providing the right environment you can help them thrive. Here are some tips to help you get started.

Picking Your Plants

Your garden should include host plants and plants that contain flowers filled with nectar. You will want to research plants that will attract the types of butterflies local to your area.

Butterfly Weed, also known as Butterfly Plant is a type of milk weed that is a potential host for Monarch caterpillars. The plant also has flowers that are a nectar source for other butterfly species including the tiger swallowtail.

Some other host plants include herbs like parsley, dill, fennel and oregano. Other host plants include hollyhock, sunflowers, lupine, milkweed and violets, just to name a few.

There are numerous nectar bearing plants for those adults you want to attract such as: daylilies, peonies, delphiniums, echinacea, salvias, marigolds, morning glorys, petunias, zinnias, and allysum. (more…)

Tags: milk weed, nectar source, monarch caterpillars, adult butterflies, butterfly weed

How to Plant a Butterfly Bush

Mar 22nd, 2011
by ButterflyLover.
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Butterfly Bush

While there are many different candidates, one you should absolutely consider is the butterfly bush. As its name indicates, it is intrinsically related to the attraction of butterflies.

Does this mean that you shouldn’t consider other plants? No, you should. But if you compare the various options in terms of how attractive they are to butterflies, and how easy they are to plant and keep alive, the butterfly bush is almost always hands down the winner.

If you are not an experienced gardener, these bushes can be a bit intimidating to get started with. This can be especially true if you are dealing with a fairly small area and you need to make every plant, flower and shrub count. (more…)

Tags: butterfly bushes, butterfly bush, winged visitors, natural compost, butterfly gardeners

Butterfly Bush (Buddleia) ‘White Ball’

Mar 21st, 2011
by ButterflyLover.
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Easy-to-grow butterfly bushes attract multitudes of butterflies all day long.

Not many plants are as prolific blooming, fun or versatile as the Buddleia or Butterfly Bush. Also called Summer Lilac, it is the one plant that can be found in almost every butterfly garden around the world as it is a virtual butterfly magnet, attracting more butterflies than just about any plant growing in temperate climates.

The beautiful flower panicles that appear for several months emit a sweet honey fragrance that will be a favorite of every butterfly in your neighborhood. This week we are featuring ‘White Ball’, a new, super-compact, white-flowering Buddleia davidii variety that vastly increases the number of places you can grow a butterfly bush. (more…)

Tags: grey foliage, butterfly bush, fragrant blooms, butterfly plant, butterfly bushes

Garden Plants That Attract Hummingbirds and Butterflies

Mar 20th, 2011
by ButterflyLover.
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A Gray Hairstreak feeding on a flower

GREY HAIRSTREAK BUTTERFLY FEEDING ON A FLOWER Image via Wikipedia

There is nothing more wonderful than relaxing in your guarded and watching the jeweled flight of humming birds and butterflies as they go about their business in your garden.

But if you don’t often see hummingbirds and butterflies in your garden, it’s not because they don’t like you, it’s probably because they don’t like your plants!

Hummingbirds and butterflies are attracted to certain types of plants because they drink the nectar from them. Therefore its chance to reason if you want to attract them to your garden and one of the types of plants that they like.

Now this doesn’t mean that you have to limit yourself to just a few types of plants because there are many different shrubs and flowers that hummingbirds and butterflies love. (more…)

Tags: winged creatures, humming birds, colorful flowers, butterfly bush, birds and butterflies

How Can You Attract Butterflies to Your Garden?

Mar 2nd, 2011
by ButterflyLover.
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Butterflies can be attracted to your garden by a variety of methods including planting brightly coloured flowers and bushes, providing food in the form of rotten fruit or by providing other places where they will congregate.

Flowers and Bushes

To attract butterflies to your garden you need to provide attractive food in the form of brightly coloured flowers and feeders and puddles for drinking water. Leave a part of your garden wild by allowing the grass to grow longer and sprinkling wild flower seeds throughout the area.

Choose an area that has sunshine for most of the day but is sheltered from the wind. A few flat stone scattered about will provide resting places. At the edges of the wild area plant flowers and shrubs with brightly coloured blooms. (more…)

Tags: flowers and shrubs, annuals and perennials, attract butterflies butterfly gardening, wild flower seeds

Butterfly Garden Basics

Mar 1st, 2011
by ButterflyLover.
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You can design a garden that will attract butterflies. The flowering plants and peaceful butterflies will help ensure a beautiful and relaxing atmosphere in your garden.

Put your butterfly garden in a place where you can sit and enjoy it. Many people like to place them around a gazebo, beside a walking path or near their porches where they can spend some time adoring these mysterious creatures.

Butterflies love the sun and require the heat from the sun to move. You may want to place dark colored stones around the area so that the butterflies can absorb the warmth whenever they need it.

Concrete benches make nice warm landing areas and offer a great place to sit observe the butterflies up close. Choose a sunny location for your butterfly garden. Thankfully, the plants that attract butterflies also thrive in direct sun. (more…)

Tags: adult butterflies, fence sections, concrete benches, butterfly garden, plants that attract butterflies

Create a Butterfly Garden

Feb 28th, 2011
by ButterflyLover.
1 comment

Having a beautiful backyard to enjoy and relax in isn’t just about plants, flowers and nice grass. For me, it includes birds, butterflies, dragonflies and even bats.a necessary part of our eco system.

Watching birds bathing and bats flitting about at night are great fun, but it is the Butterflies that are truly spectacular. There are hundreds of varieties of Butterflies, each unique unto itself.

Butterflies are one of nature’s most beautiful and delicate creatures. Creating a habitat for them will bring a variety of Butterflies to your yard for your viewing pleasure and it creates a safe haven for them to breed.

There is nothing more enjoyable than watching a dozen Butterflies feeding on a single Lavender plant or rose bush. Butterflies are an essential part of our pollination system as well. Without butterflies and bees there would be no flowers.

Incorporating plants into your landscape that Butterflies are attracted to is easy to do. (more…)

Tags: shrubs and trees, butterflies and bees, Butterfly Gardening, chemical insecticides, butterfly bush, planting perennials

How to Entice Butterflies to your Garden

Feb 24th, 2011
by ButterflyLover.
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A Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) on Buddleja.

Image via Wikipedia

How to entice butterflies to your garden is fun and simple too. Butterflies are easy to entice to your garden if you plant a garden where the caterpillar (pupa step) has plants to eat and then the butterfly has flowers from which to sip nectar.

Butterfly gardens are simple to plant and will provide you and your friends and family a chance to peek butterflies in their natural environment.

The basics are an open space with tons of sunshine and a location that is not windy. Choose a spot with lots of sunlight with a few rocks or stones that can warm up on which the butterflies will bask in the afternoon sun.

Strive to locate your garden close to hedges or shrubs that will aid in shielding them from the hardy winds. If it is too windy, the butterflies won’t stay around for any length of time.

The hedge or shrub needs to develop food for the caterpillar. You can find out what the caterpillar likes best from your Nursery Garden Center. (more…)

Tags: sip nectar, Butterfly Gardening, attracting butterflies, plants butterflies like, nectar sources, mud puddles

Attracting Butterflies to your Garden

Feb 24th, 2011
by ButterflyLover.
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Two caterpillars of the Heliconiinae family. T...

Image via Wikipedia

There are dozens of myths and beliefs surrounding the lives of butterflies. From legends to mythology, many mystical qualities are attributed to the common butterfly. However it is their radiant and colorful beauty that has brought butterfly gardening to the forefront of hobbies for people from all walks of life.

There are a myriad of reasons for wanting these flittering creatures to be a part of your gardens. Butterflies have inspired humankind since antiquity, not just for their decorative value but also as spiritual beings, symbolic of metamorphosis, rebirth, love, hope, and freedom. (more…)

Tags: butterflies and moths, nectar sources, adult butterflies, winged insect, life cycle of butterflies

Create a Butterfly Habitat That Your Friends Will Envy!

Jan 26th, 2011
by GuestBlogger.
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Monarch chrysalis on butterflyweed
Image by Martin LaBar via Flickr

Would you like to create a butterfly habitat that your friends will envy? Here is what you need to do! First, make sure that you plant flowers that will give the butterflies a steady source of nectar all through the summer months

You do not have to be a master gardener to have a butterfly habitat. You only need to plant butterfly flowers. After all, butterflies are not particular about nectar plants. They will seek out any flowers that produce abundant amounts of nectar for them.

It is quite simple to develop a butterfly habitat. You may even discover that you already grow some flowers that draw butterflies. With just a small amount of effort you can bring into existence a charming environment for these lovely winged creatures, and the butterflies will to flock to your yard.

If you are starting from scratch, and will be making a new flower bed for your butterfly habitat, you will first need to learn how to properly develop a planting bed for your flowers. If you will be making a new butterfly garden from the ground up, it is imperative to have information about how to enrich the soil and select the appropriate plants for your habitat. (more…)

Tags: butterfly flowers, source of nectar, nectar plants, butterfly habitat, flowering shrubs
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