Butterfly gardens are a lot of fun but require a little
planning. To ensure a
successful garden, first consider the butterfly’s needs.
Butterflies prefer to rest and feed in full sunshine, which
means 10 or more hours of
sunlight per day in June. Water, resting places and food sources
for caterpillars are
important considerations.
Putting larger plants to the rear and smaller ones up front
makes sense. To make the
garden even more interesting, put a butterfly feeding-dish stand
or birdbath where you can
easily see it.
A small bench or outdoor chair nearby will make the butterfly
garden a great morning or
evening resting spot.
Pay close attention not only to plants’ height, but to their
vigor. As an example, Lantana
camera ‘Miss Huff’ and butterfly bush (Buddleia
davidii ‘Black Knight’) can
become four-foot-wide bushes! Planted too close, these
"towers with flowers" can
crowd out neighboring plants.
Examples of troublesome, spreading butterfly plants include
Monarda, Physostegia and
Lysmachia.
The goal of any butterfly garden is to attract butterflies.
Since butterflies
especially need nectar in hot weather, selecting heat-tolerant,
nectar-producing plants is
important.
Purple coneflower (Echinaceae purpurea) and Lantana
are two types of butterfly
attractors which produce nectar even in the hottest, longest
droughts.
Pick a combination of nectar plants for season-long bloom.
The 1994 Georgia Gold Medal
selection ‘Homestead Purple’ verbena will flush in early spring.
And Helianthus
angustifolia will bloom profusely in September. These plants
can extend the nectar
season for very early and late-season butterflies such as zebra
swallowtails and
frittilaries.
Green food sources for caterpillars are vital to keep strong
butterfly populations.
Ornamental fennel, the favorite food of our eastern black
swallowtail, is easy to grow.
Dill, garden fennel, carrot and parsley do well, too. Common
butterfly weed, or Asclepias
tuberosa, is a good food source. Add these to your garden to
encourage more
caterpillars.
Butterflies need water and like places to rest and warm up.
Add large flat rocks to
your garden. Or fill a birdbath with sand and then add water
until the sand glistens.
Another fun thing you can do is put pieces of fruit, old or
fresh, on top of the sand.
Old watermelon, cantaloupe, banana, apple and pear attract
butterflies like magnets.
The single most important thing you can do to grow healthy
plants for butterflies is
prepare your garden soil. The goal is to have well-drained soil
with lots of organic
matter.
Turn the soil 12 inches deep over the entire area. Add
several bushels of compost, pine
bark or manure, and turn the soil again. Your plants will thrive
in this type of soil.
Fertilize your garden the day you plant with an even
sprinkling of 10-10-10 fertilizer
(about one pound per 1,000 square feet). Water it in thoroughly.
Apply again every three
weeks until July 1.
Avoid getting fertilizer on plant flowers and leaves. It may
burn them. Weed
occasionally to cut down on competition for nutrients.
Common sense dictates that anything used to kill bugs won’t
be suitable for a butterfly
garden. A few chewed leaves is a small price to pay for lots of
butterflies.
After a killing frost, let your plants dry down naturally.
Around Christmas, cut woody
bushes such as buddleia and ‘Miss Huff’ lantana to six inches
high.
Set your lawn mower blade on high (three inches or so) and
mow the entire garden except
the woody bushes. Leave the debris on the ground and cover with
an inch or two of fresh
pine straw. Mound leaves around the bush trunks.
Your garden will look neat all winter, and your perennials
will emerge just fine next
spring.
