Tips on creating a butterfly garden?
Question:i want to create a butterfly garden,and i'm wondering what most people don't know will attract butterflies
Answers:
This is the plan I followed when creating my butterfly garden,
I did not follow it exactly because of the space I was working with. I love it!
http://www.bhg.com/bhg/story.jsp?storyid...
asclepius plants they actually form chrysalis on the leaves and feed on the plant after hatching! Milk weeds are favorites too!
http://www.ig-ascleps.org/asclepius.htm...
http://www.butterflyencounters.com/...
We have 6 of these in your yard by the fence and the butterflys seem to thrive on them! we have 6 chrysalis around the yard ready to hatch!! our son loves watching the development!
A butterfly bush alone will attract butterflies. Nice sunny spot and that sucker will florish. And bring plenty of monarchs your way.
My Hebe, Lavender and Buddlia especially attract butterflies, they also likes herbs such as thyme and chives, in fact any plant with bugle-shaped flowers. Is your garden sheltered? Butterflies don't visit places that are breezy. Make sure the plants are somwhere where they will get a lot of sun as butterflies generally only visit flowers when the sun is shining on them.
Be warned that where there is a good food supply for the butterflies, they will most likely lay eggs, which will hatch into caterpillars so don't be upset whe they eat half your garden!
good luck and enjoy!
The important thing to do is search what butterflies are native to your area, you can't attract a butterfly that's not there! Pick 1-3 that are native and search what plants they lay eggs on, what plants their larvae eat and what plants the adults get nectar from. Plant all of these in close proximity - Martha Stewart style(a lot of plants in one bed!). Butterflies need an area that is sunny but not windy, and away from predators - no bird feeders! They also like to drink water, puddling. I have a ground bird feeder with sand and some pebbles that I fill with just enough water to reach the top of the sand. They will land on it and drink.
i created a butterfly garden myself. best plants are: buddleia, lantana, zinnias, lavender, sunflowers.
but you also have to provide the food plants for the caterpillars and not only for the adults, so that depends on the varieties of butterflies living in your area (thistle is ok for many of them, you should leave some corner of your garden grow a bit wild, without cutting and cleaning off everything).
also provide a little water for the butterflies, low level with stones in it and also some ripe fruit here and there attracts butterflies.
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