Posted by Green Thumb Gardener | Posted in Flower Garden, Garden Pest Control, Gardening for Fun, Summer Garden | Posted on 18-06-2010
Tags: Attract Butterflies, Better Health, Entertain Children, Flower Garden, Garden Pest Control, Summer Garden
There are hundreds upon hundreds of species of butterflies. In Los Angeles, California alone there are over 110 different species. In New York City there are about 70 different species. So of course there are going to be people like you who’d like to enjoy seeing some of these species within their own gardens and that’s where this article comes in handy. Butterflies are beautiful and it’s always a nice surprise to see them flitting about, in and out of flowers unexpectedly. So why not have them in your personal garden as well? There are plenty of things you can do to attract different types of butterflies to your garden. You don’t need a special garden all by itself to attract butterflies. If you have certain plants and flowers in the garden, butterflies will definitely find them.
First of all you should know that some plants that attract butterflies can also attract bees and wasps. So if you have allergies to these bugs or just don’t want them hanging around then you might want to rethink the whole butterfly garden thing. Once you get past that you need to choose flowers and plants that butterflies love, places for them to sun themselves, and a supply of water somewhere in the garden for them to drink. It should be a place that not only the adults are attracted to but should be a place for them to hibernate, lay eggs, and for the larva and caterpillars to feed. You should create a place to hibernate that is protected in some way, like with surrounding tall trees that help as a barrier from wind. They like to bask in the warm sun so why not have flat rocks about just for that purpose.
Butterflies are mostly active in mid and late summer so you should make sure that you have lots of nectar-rich plants and flowers blooming by then. If you plant large sections of flowers that are the same color it’ll make it easier for them to find you garden. You should plant flowers that will bloom at different times of the year and ones that bloom even at different times of the day and night, this way you’ll always have something in bloom and they’ll always be attracting butterflies.
Once you find out which types of butterflies are native to your area, it’ll be easier to know which kinds of plants and flowers to put in your garden. Don’t forget though, that you should alternate your “butterfly plants and flowers” with ones that don’t attract butterflies also. If you actually have so many butterflies in your garden, you can place water features and “calm” areas also. Having an entire garden dedicated to butterflies isn’t necessary either. If you’d like, you can have a mini butterfly garden by adding a raised section to your garden and then that’s where you’d plant everything.
