- How to Make a Butterfly Garden<\/a>
- Select Your Butterfly Garden Plants<\/a><\/li>
- Grow Caterpillar-Friendly Host Plants<\/a><\/li>
- Provide a Butterfly Puddling Station<\/a><\/li>
- Be Careful About Pesticides<\/a><\/li>
- Vary Blooming Heights<\/a><\/li>
- Diversify Blooming Times<\/a><\/li>
- Create Shelter<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Butterfly Basics<\/a><\/li>
- Butterflies Do Better in a Garden<\/a><\/li>
- Life Cycle of a Butterfly<\/a><\/li>
- When to Call a Professional Landscaper<\/a><\/li>
- FAQs<\/a><\/li><\/ul> \t\t\t<\/div> \t\t<\/div><\/div>
How to Make a Butterfly Garden<\/strong><\/h2>
![\"Monarch](\"https:\/\/www.lawnstarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/image-32.jpeg\")
Photo Credit: Pxfuel<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure> Before we probe into specific plants, bloom time, varying heights, and other details, here are six pillars of butterfly garden design:<\/p>
- Area: <\/strong>Dedicate an area that covers about 100 square feet. Round areas are common, square areas are often used, but rectangular shapes (5 by 20) also work. But there must be space.<\/li> <\/ul>
- Sunlight: <\/strong>The butterfly garden needs 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day. More is fine.<\/li> <\/ul>
- Variety: <\/strong>Plan to plant a lot of flowers. Plant flowers of different shapes, sizes, heights, and colors. (See the next section<\/a> for specific plants.)<\/li> <\/ul>
- Nectar\/host plants: <\/strong>Butterflies sip their nectar from flowers using a straw-like proboscis (pronounced pruh-BAAS-is). Caterpillars chomp and chew on host plants<\/a> (that is, a plant on which a creature lives and feeds). Be sure to include both kinds of food.<\/li> <\/ul>
- Water: <\/strong>Add a small clay saucer or birdbath with sand or small pebbles in the bottom and shallow water for butterflies.<\/li> <\/ul>
- Rocks: <\/strong>Place light-colored rocks. It gives butterflies places to linger in the sunlight when it is cool.<\/li> <\/ul>
A fun tip: <\/strong>Place decaying fruits, such as bananas, oranges, peaches, or strawberries left over from your dinner, in a shallow container as a food source for butterflies. Drizzle a mix of brown sugar, molasses, and beer over the fruits. Butterflies love such a sugary brew and it keeps the fruit moist. <\/p>
Select Your Butterfly Garden Plants<\/strong><\/h3>
![\"Monarch](\"https:\/\/www.lawnstarter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/image-24.jpeg\")
Photo Credit: Image Catalog<\/a> \/ Flickr \/ Public Domain<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure> One of the pleasures of having a butterfly garden is that it can add a great deal of color, not only from the adult butterflies, but from plants they favor.<\/p>
Planting tip: <\/strong>Plant your colorful blooming plants in groups. This helps butterflies identify the blooms more easily.<\/p>
Flower<\/strong><\/td> Primary colors<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Asters<\/td> Purple, white, blue, pink<\/td><\/tr> Bee Balm (Bergamot)<\/td> Red, pink, purple, white<\/td><\/tr> Black-Eyed Susans<\/td> Yellow, orange, red, with brown center<\/td><\/tr> Coneflowers<\/td> Purple, pink, red, orange, white, yellow<\/td><\/tr> Joe-Pye weeds<\/td> Pink, purple<\/td><\/tr> Marigolds<\/td> Orange, yellow, red, mahogany<\/td><\/tr> Sunflowers<\/td> Yellow with a brown center<\/td><\/tr> Verbena<\/td> Reds, whites, pinks, purples<\/td><\/tr> Zinnias<\/td> Pink, orange, red, yellow, peach, white<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure> Have an herb garden? Most plants in the mint family provide nectar for butterflies, too.<\/p>
A warning: <\/strong>Despite having \u201cbutterfly\u201d in its name, a butterfly bush is not a good plant for a butterfly garden. It is categorized as an invasive species, crowding out other plants. Some states ban them.<\/p>
- Rocks: <\/strong>Place light-colored rocks. It gives butterflies places to linger in the sunlight when it is cool.<\/li> <\/ul>
- Water: <\/strong>Add a small clay saucer or birdbath with sand or small pebbles in the bottom and shallow water for butterflies.<\/li> <\/ul>
- Nectar\/host plants: <\/strong>Butterflies sip their nectar from flowers using a straw-like proboscis (pronounced pruh-BAAS-is). Caterpillars chomp and chew on host plants<\/a> (that is, a plant on which a creature lives and feeds). Be sure to include both kinds of food.<\/li> <\/ul>
- Variety: <\/strong>Plan to plant a lot of flowers. Plant flowers of different shapes, sizes, heights, and colors. (See the next section<\/a> for specific plants.)<\/li> <\/ul>
- Sunlight: <\/strong>The butterfly garden needs 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day. More is fine.<\/li> <\/ul>
- Grow Caterpillar-Friendly Host Plants<\/a><\/li>
- Select Your Butterfly Garden Plants<\/a><\/li>