How to Create a Butterfly Garden

This may seem obvious but the primary food of adult butterflies is nectar, so you can never have too many nectar plants in your garden. Obviously some plants are more appealing to butterflies than others, but those will be discussed a little later on. When it comes to planting nectar plants one should always plant them in clumps. Larger groups of flowers are much more enticing to our fluttering friends.

When choosing plants for your garden, make sure you are aware of blooming times so you can enjoy have butterflies throughout then season. Planting nectar plants of many varieties and heights is essential because butterflies can be picky; the larger ones tend to feed off of taller and larger flowers.

LIST OF NECTAR PLANTS

Sure nectar plants will attract butterflies, but if you want even more of them, you need to plant host plants for the caterpillars. Extremely picky eaters, caterpillars will starve rather that eat plant material other than their host plants. Adult female Butterflies will be attracted to a garden with host plants because they will search out the appropriate food for their offspring.

Note: DO NOT USE PESTICIDES IN YOUR GARDEN. You don't want to poison butterflies or their larvae.

Many larval host plants will look rather dull rather, so you may want to designate an area specifically for them.

LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BUTTERFLY HOST PLANTS

Rather buying already mature plants you will save an enormous amount of money by planting seeds. Many nectar plants that butterflies feed on are hardy natives and grow without much water or care.

Collecting seeds from most garden plants is much easier than you may think. Most plants will bear fruits or seed pods. Seeds of plants that make pods are by far the easiest to collect. When the seeds are ready, the pod will dry up and burst. That's your cue to go get those seeds! There are also chances that the seed might drop and germinate. That isn't a problem either because you can relocate the small plants later on. Make sure that pick mature pods as early picking will result in immature seeds and a wasted effort. Therefore, seeding is a great option not only for the cash strapped but for anyone looking to save.

The sun and the warmth it provides are imperative to having a successful butterfly garden. Butterflies are very dependent on the air temperature. If the temperature falls below roughly 21 Celsius(70 F) our beloved critters will seldom fly but rather bask in the Sun trying to keep warm. It is also a good idea to place an number of dark rocks in the garden as these will absorb heat. You see butterflies aren't warm blooded and when the temperature is too low their body fluid becomes too viscous for them to fly. Plants also benefit from the sun. The amount of nectar they product is proportionate to the amount of light received.

Warm and sunny locations also mean butterflies have a longer period of activity during the day. As a result this means females will have more time to lay eggs and the males can feed more plus pursue mates. Caterpillars also develop significantly faster if exposed to warmer temperature and sunlight. In the end, a sunny garden will not only look more spectacular but it will attract and produce more butterflies.