 | 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. Well, 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 and the following article has some easy tips and tricks to get them to choose your garden area over others. 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.
Not all species of butterflies like the same type of food, and since they all begin as caterpillars, you should keep in mind the following: 1) Plant a variety of plants that can become like a buffet for caterpillars. For instance... Birch, Lilac, Poplar, Daisy, Elm, Milkweed (Butterfly Weed), Snapdragon and Hollyhock. Those are all great choices. 2) Also plant a variety of flowers because when they become butterflies, they'll feed on nectar from flowers like Asters, Azalea, blueberry, Butterfly Bush (Buddleia), Impatiens, Zinnia, Clematis and Marigolds to name a few.
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.
Create a Butterfly Garden - Part 2
Alright, in Part 1 we discussed the fact there are many different species of butterfly and what things you can do to get them to come to your garden over someone else's garden. Such as planting Butterfly Weed (Milkweed), making sure they have some kind of shelter from the wind, placing flat rocks in the sun for sun-bathing and providing a buffet for the would-be butterflies, the caterpillars, by putting in different kinds of leafy plants.
So what's left you might ask, well some people like to ensure that the butterflies will come to their garden, and try to ensure this by putting in a butterfly feeder or hibernating box. Feeders are easy enough to make, they just take some patience and time.
Lets start with the Jar Feeder. To create it you'll need the following:
- A wad of cotton
- a small jar like a baby food jar with a screw-on lid
- sugar water solution (recipe below)
- string or ribbon preferably brightly colored about 18 inches
- a drill
- Start by making the sugar water solution. That way while it's cooling, you can make the feeder portion.
- Mix one teaspoon sugar with nine teaspoons of water (or use tablespoons if you'd like to make more solution).
- Boil the mixture together for a few minutes until the sugar dissolves.
- Let the mixture cool, then you can pour it into the feeder when you've finished making it.
- Making the feeder...
- Drill a small hole in the lid. Not too small, but big enough to put some cotton into it.
- Feed a piece of the cotton through the hole, but not all the way into the lid.
- Fill the jar with your sugar water mixture and seal the jar with the cotton-stuffed lid.
- Tie the string around the jar so it can be hung up. (you might need to glue the string in place just so it's a bit more sturdy)
- Hang the jar in a tree that's near your nectar producing flowers, but slightly above them.
That's it! Make sure to clean the feeder and change the solution inside every week. If you're surrounded by extreme heat, then it should be cleaned out more often than once a week.
OK, lets talk hibernating boxes. Except for the Monarch butterfly because it's migratory, most butterflies hibernate in the same place that they might spend the summer. Many people have used hibernating boxes to give the butterfly a place to hang out and are sometimes thought of as butterfly houses, but truth is they would mostly be a kind of shelter for them. However, there are many entomologists (scientists who studies insects) that don't have many positive things to say about the boxes. There are just so many other, natural looking places for them to hibernate than in a man-made box. But it's also not unheard of for a butterfly to move in though, so it's 50/50.
If you're going to try a hibernating box, then the best place to put one would be in the woodiest area of your garden. If you put it near a host plant, (the plant that the butterfly gets it's nectar from and the one the caterpillar will be able to munch on) then you might have an even better chance a butterfly would choose it.
If you'd like to see what great butterfly gardens look like, then maybe checking out a public garden is the place for you to go. There are many places to visit that are listed as "public butterfly gardens." An internet search will reveal as much, but if you'd like a few specific names then see below.
- In California, there are eight locations to check out. Including the Butterfly House at Turtle Bay Museum and Arboretum in Redding, CA. The L.A. Zoo, Los Angeles, CA. And the San Francisco Zoological Society Insect Zoo in San Francisco.
- In Florida there are three locations. Butterfly World, Coconut Creek, FL. Panhandle Butterfly House in Navarre, FL. And the Wings of Wonder Butterfly Conservatory at Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven.
- In Texas there are nine locations. Including Yeager Butterfly Farm, Pearsall, TX. The Cockerell Butterfly Center in Houston, TX. And the Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin.
- In Delaware there is only one location. The Butterfly House at Ashland Nature Center in Hockessin, DE.
- In Pennsylvania there are four locations. Including the Academy of Science's Butterfly Exhibit, Philadelphia, PA. Hershey Gardens, Hershey, PA. And Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh.
The dream of walking through flowers and trees surrounded by waterfalls and butterflies all flitting about is a dream come true with any butterfly garden, be it your own personal garden, or any of the public butterfly gardens around the U.S.A. that you can find and visit. There's a world of exotic butterflies out there flying freely and having a butterfly garden is just the beginning to being able to enjoy these fabulous creatures. So get out there, do some research and make it happen!
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