Butterflies are beautiful and fascinating creatures. Many people enjoy spotting them as they float through neighborhood yards and gardens. Watching butterflies is enjoyable, provide inspiration to artists of all types, and offer terrific photo opportunities. If you would like to see these lovely insects more, consider creating butterfly gardens in your yard to invite them to your home.
The secret to successful butterfly gardens visited often by winged guests is actually simple. If you feed them, they will come. The first step to creating a butterfly garden is to do some research on which butterflies are native to your area. These are the butterflies you are planning to attract. Next, you need to learn what their favorite foods are. There are two parts to this search. The first is to discover which nectars adult butterflies prefer. The second is to discover on which plants they lay their eggs, for these plants are the food source for their larva and caterpillar stages.
Once you have identified the food plants and host plants you want to plant in order to attract butterflies to your garden, plan their placement in the yard space you will use. Butterflies are nearsighted, and will spot groups or clusters of flowers much more easily than they can see a single plant. Plan to plant each type of flower you have chosen in groups of multiple plants. If color arrangement in the garden is important to you, plan to locate the different flowers in different areas accordingly. As you stagger different colors, you can also alternate wild growing and more cultivated plants. It is also very important to plant with an eye to staggering blooming periods, both in time of year and by time of day. The longer plants bloom each day, the more butterflies you will see. The longer plants bloom throughout the growing season, the longer the butterflies will stay in the area.
Butterflies are seeking more than just nectar for their hunger needs. They also prefer to eat where there are planting areas in which to lay their eggs. They need shelter from wind and weather as well. They do not want to fight winds gusts to hold on to flowers while feeding. The ideal butterfly habitat will include:
• blooming and leafy food plants for each butterfly life cycle stage
• several flat stones on which to rest and sun
• a mud puddle or wet sand for “puddling” (a social activity)
• a source for drinking water (water dish or bird bath)
• shelter ( butterfly house, trees and shrubs as windbreak)
• no pesticide or insecticide use
• a sitting area for you, for butterfly watching
Color and scent are also important to butterflies when you want to attract them to your flowers. A butterfly cannot see red as we perceive the color, but it does see polarized light and can see the ultraviolet light present in many flowers. Scents especially attract them. That is one of the reasons so many types of butterflies enjoy the nectar of rotting fruits.
Creating and maintaining butterfly gardens is growing as a hobby. These gardens are also growing in importance for these gorgeous insects as more and more of their natural habitat is developed by humans. The best news of all is that you do not have to have a green thumb to be successful at it. There are many easy-to-grow and popular perennials that butterflies love. Plant a few and watch them come.
