How To Have An Irresistible Garden For Butterflies And Birds
Planting your garden with plants that attract butterflies is just one step in making it butterfly friendly. Once the butterflies discover your garden, the females will lay eggs on the plants that will become food for the hatching caterpillars.
The selected host plant and the time of year when the eggs are laid depends on the species of butterfly. Different butterflies prefer different host plants. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution if your goal is to attract a diverse selection of butterflies to your garden.
Below are their suggestions for creating an environment that encourages butterflies to complete their life cycle in our gardens.
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Host plants for butterflies
Monarchs like to feed on common plants, such as milkweed. While other species are fierce eaters of many of our favorite garden herbs. Fennel, parsley, and dill are good hosts for black swallowtails. Some sulfur butterflies are housed in Baptisia.
Trees and shrubs that host butterflies
When it comes to butterfly hosts, trees and shrubs are often overlooked, but they are just as important as the plants listed above. According to Benjamin, oaks, willows, chokecherries, and elms are excellent host trees for butterfly larvae.
Water and nectar for butterflies
Chuck B. mentioned an interesting talk from a butterfly gardener in the comments to my post about plants that are butterfly magnets. You can read Chuck's post about the talk on his garden blog. While the talk was specifically for California butterfly gardening, there is helpful information for butterfly gardeners everywhere.
For example, creating a butterfly water feature is as easy as making sure there are puddles in your yard. These puddles can take the form of a depression in a rock that traps water or fill a birdbath with rocks and mud. Butterflies are not very picky about the water source.
Benjamin mentions that in his garden he regularly observes butterflies drinking drops of water from stones and leaves. Before putting leftover fruit in the compost bin, consider putting it outside for the butterflies. He and his wife like to put soggy fruit peels and chunks for butterfly nectar.
The first rule of butterfly gardening
Remember to avoid using pesticides in your garden. If you have pest problems in your garden, choose safer treatments over using broad-spectrum pesticides.
Use alternatives like vegetable oils and soaps and make sure you don't accidentally spray any caterpillars. Many pests, such as aphids, can be eliminated simply by cutting the stem to which they are attached and discarding it.
Put on a pair of garden gloves to harvest and squash larger pests like slugs and beetles.
Enjoy This Video Tutorial About How To Have An Irresistible Garden For Butterflies And Birds
Source: Mitre 10 New Zealand
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Last update on 2025-05-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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