Butterfly Gardens

As I sit here writing this post on a Friday morning, it’s snowing in North Georgia.  Monday, as I left work it was 70 degrees.  Don’t be fooled by the ground hog’s prediction, we still have some cold weather to come.  I have several projects that I want to do including completing my garden shed, installing split rail fencing on each side of my garden arbor, and planting pollinator gardens, including a butterfly garden.

Winter is the perfect time to plan these garden projects.  You can take your time to decide what you need, where you want to plant your garden, how much it will cost, and what kind of help will you need.

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.
• Provide shelter from the wind.  Include bushes and trees in your plans for creating a butterfly garden.
• Be eco-friendly.  Look for organic solutions to pests.  Don’t put a lot of hard work into creating a butterfly habitat, only to kill them with pesticides.
• Don’t think you can’t create your own butterfly garden in a limited space.  Plant containers with butterfly attracting flowers and herbs in areas around your garden, on your patios and decks.

I joined with a group of my friends who have their own blogs and share their garden expertise on the Garden Charmers Facebook Page.   Here are a few of their favorite posts.at

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

Lynn blogs at Sensible Gardening and shares 10 ways to Impress Butterflies

Stephanie at Garden Therapy shares her easy DIY Butterfly feeder project.  A great winter project to place in your garden this spring.

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.

More butterfly posts: Download a set of four pretty butterfly printables including a list of flowers, herbs and trees for your butterfly garden, a checklist to take to the nursery so you won’t forget what flowers you need, a butterfly sighting log (because you are going to be attracting more butterflies!), and a page for taking notes.  Download your’s here.

Butterfly tips and ideas from a group of garden bloggers.  Read it here.

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.