Butterfly Gardening
Information provided by
BIRDS-N-GARDEN.COM
in Austin, TX
Gardening to attract butterflies is easy and rewarding. You will want to provide food for the larval stage of the butterfly life cycle. Nectar plants will keep the adult butterfly feeding in your gardens.
Location
- In a sunny protected area of your grounds.
- Away from traffic. Not the choice for curb gardening.
- Out of heavy winds. Butterflies won't stay where they are being blown around. (See ideas about protected islands below.)
Leaves and Nectar
- Use the internet to learn the larval food plants for the butterflies in your area.
- If caterpillars are quickly destroying a favorite area of your garden, consider buying more of the same plants and relocating the caterpillars to a Larval Zone.
- Butterflies like open single blooms and double blooms.
- Create a long growing season of blooms for more viewing during the year.
My current backyard abounds with colorful butterflies even though it lacks some of the requirements for successful butterfly gardening. I have a relatively small backyard that gets mowed regularly versus an undisturbed meadow filled with native plants. I live in a windy part of the country but I create wind blocks with a little landscaping know-how. Currently I have too few host plants for the larval stages of development but plenty of nectar producing flowers for my butterflies. There is always room for improvement.
| How I solved a few problems in my own yard | |
| PROBLEM | IMPROVEMENT |
| too much wind | created windbreaks with cherry laurels, cypress, beauty berries, etc. |
| unproductive grass lawn in areas instead of undisturbed meadow of wildflowers | shrink the lawn area as you add more flowerbeds - make the most of all flowerbeds - every plant attracts butterflies or birds |
| shady spots | trimmed the trees properly and opened up dappled sunlight - it seems to be enough |
| winter butterflies | make sure to protect lingering blooms from freezing weather |
| thirsty butterflies | shallow trays filled with sand - bring the water level up to barely show at the surface |
More important than what my yard lacks are the properties that make it a welcome butterfly habitat. I choose blooming plants of various heights and coordinate the longest blooming season possible. Butterflies prefer plants with a multitude of tiny blossoms clustered together such as Butterfly Bush (Buddleia sp.), Pentas and Lantana. They also appreciate daisy-like blooms such as Coneflowers, Shasta Daisies, Cosmos.
Design with the height of plants in mind.
Shield heavy winds with well-chosen plants.
A. Tallest flowers
B. Medium height flowers
C. Medium or low height flowers
D. Lowest height flowers
Sun and water are necessary for success. I use saucers of water filled with sand to create shallow puddles. Butterflies will not drink from deep pools of water. Slices of watermelon placed in the shade near the flowers is a treat many butterflies will relish. I have even had butterflies drink from wet beach towels.
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