Easy Tips to Help You Attract Butterflies to Your Garden

When planning your vegetable garden this year, don’t forget to invite in the butterflies. Butterflies are great pollinators for those squash and cucumber plants you are planting.

 

I started reading about what I needed to not only attract butterflies to my garden, but to keep them there to lay their eggs, and raise their young.  There is a lot of information out there, but it boils down to just a few simple things.

• Provide a wide variety of nectar producing plants that bloom spring through late fall.  Include annuals, perennials, native plants, trees, bushes,herbs, vines, and groundcovers. Butterflies are drawn to color, especially orange, red, yellow and purple.
• Provide “host” plants for the butterflies to lay their eggs.  Their eggs must be laid on plants that will provide the caterpillars a food source when they emerge.  (Be prepared for your plant to be eaten!)

• Plant your garden in an area that gets plenty of sun.  Butterflies love the sun, and so do pollinator plants.  Place a few flat rocks in your garden to allow the butterflies to rest on.  They need to warm up their wings to fly.
• Provide shelter from the wind.  Include bushes and trees in your plans for creating a butterfly garden.
• Be eco-friendly.  No pesticides. Not only do they kill garden pest, they kill butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects.  Look for organic solutions to pests. Many of the plants you will be growing for attracting butterflies, will also attract beneficial insects to control garden pest.  Don’t put a lot of hard work into creating a butterfly habitat, only to kill them with pesticides.
• Have limited space?   Plant containers with butterfly attracting flowers and herbs in areas around your garden, on your patios and decks.
• Choose flowers with a large amount of “florets” like the lantana below.

• Provide a water source by making a butterfly puddler.
• Research native plants that attract butterflies that grow well in your garden zone.

Here are a few of my favorite bloggers with their tips on attracting butterflies to the garden.

Barb at Our Fairfield Home and Garden, plans a picnic to attract pollinators to her garden.

ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/pollinator-picnic-attracting-pollinators-to-your-garden

 

Stephanie at Garden Therapy shares her easy DIY Butterfly feeder project.  A great family project to invite the butterflies to your garden.

I hope you have enjoyed these posts and will consider creating your own butterfly garden.  Overuse of pesticides, and loss of habitat have resulted in a decline in these beautiful creatures.  Any part you play, however small, will help.

Print out these butterfly notes, lists, and tips to place in your garden journal.  There is also a sheet to log your butterfly sightings.  Click here to download.

 

Happy gardening!

Karen

I’ve put together a few things on my Amazon Store to help you get started on your butterfly garden.  You can visit the  Gardenchick Market Place on Amazon

As an affiliate of Amazon, I may receive compensation when you make a purchase on any product when clicking through my link.