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. . . . . . . . . . . . Butterfly Gardening
Butterfly gardening is not only a joy, it is one way that
you can help restore declining butterfly populations. Simply
adding a few new plants to your backyard may attract dozens
of different butterflies, according to landscape designers
at the University of Guelph.
Butterflies, like honeybees, are excellent pollinators and
will help increase your flower, fruit and vegetable production
if you provide them with a variety of flowers and shrubs.
They are also beautiful to watch, and are sometimes called
"flowers on the wing."
- Begin by seeding part of your yard with a wildflower or
butterfly seed mix, available through seed catalogues and
garden centers. Wildflowers are a good food source for butterflies
and their caterpillars.
- Choose simple flowers over double hybrids. They offer an
easy-to-reach nectar source.
- Provide a broad range of flower colors. Some butterflies
like oranges, reds and yellows while others are drawn toward
white,purple or blue flowers.
- Arrange wildflowers and cultivated plants in clumps to
make it easier for butterflies to identify them as a source
of nectar.
- If caterpillars are destroying favorite plants, transfer
them by hand to another food source. Avoid the use of pesticides,
which can kill butterflies and other beneficial insects.
- Some common caterpillar food sources are asters, borage,
chickweed, clover, crabgrass, hollyhocks, lupines, mallows,
marigold, milkweed or butterfly weed, nasturtium, parsley,
pearly everlasting, ragweed, spicebush, thistle, violets and
wisteria. Caterpillars also thrive on trees such as ash, birch,
black locust, elm and oak.
- Annual nectar plants include ageratum, alyssum, candy tuft,
dill, cosmos, pinks, pin cushion flower, verbena and zinnia.
- Common perennial nectar plants include chives, onions,
pearly everlasting, chamomile, butterfly weed, milkweeds,
daisies, thistles, purple coneflower, sea holly, blanket flower,
lavender, marjoram, mints, moss phlox, sage, stonecrops, goldenrod,
dandelion and valerian.
Remember that butterflies are cold-blooded insects that bask
in the sun to warm their wings for flight and to orient themselves.
They also need shelter from the wind, a source of water, and
partly shady areas provided by trees and shrubs.
Author:
Jane Lake
About
the author:
Jane Lake's work has appeared in Canadian Living, You and
Modern
Woman magazines. To make your own butterfly feeders, read
her
article, Butt erfly Food
or visit her Nature Crafts section
for more nature articles, including how to make nectar for
hummingbirds, plus more on butterfly gardens.
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Butterfly Gardening
