How does one create a butterfly garden?

Butterfly gardening is a type of gardening that uses many different types of plants to attract butterflies. Delight your family and visitors with beautiful butterflies, but do take the time to learn how to create a safe habitat for your butterflies.

We don’t have our own cats but we get a lot visiting from around the neighbourhood. If you have a cat living at your home, beware because they may seem like they are only playing but they kill butterflies.

How you plan the look of your butterfly garden is of course your choice but there are a few things to think about first.

Typical points to consider are the size of your garden and the types of flowers and plants you want to grow. When designing your butterfly garden you are going to want a look that is appealing to you, just make sure that it containes plants that butterflies are attracted to.

It is important to find out which plants and flowers will attract the species of butterflies. that live in your area. This information can be found at the local library.

There must be water to recreate the type of enviroment that butterflies love. A birdbath will look attractive and keep the butterflies up off the ground, away from stray cats or mischievous puppies. You could always hang a shallow dish from a tree or maybe even attach it to a tree, I know this works well.

As with any garden it is really important to choose the colors of the plants wisely for your butterfly garden. Remember that attracting butterflies is easy with the right plants, it is the “looking good” part that is hard so make sure your garden meshes. Butterflies are attracted to those flowers that have nectar rather than pollen, like honeysuckle, milkweed, summer lilac, Valerian, daisies, Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium), Purple Coneflower, Yellow Sage, day lilies and lavender.

Some people find it helpful to draw and color a layout of their butterfly gardening plan to see what the finished product would look like. Keep in mind that vibrant colors like red, yellow and orange will really stand out and may even seem showy. These colors have a greater impact against a strong green background. Cool colors such as blue and purple are soothing and toned down and would work better with a white contrast to create the look of freshness and brightness.

My wife and I just can’t get enough of our flower garden, it brings so much joy just looking at them. Sometimes I find myself just staring out my office window into the backyard as it can be quite beautiful.

But, it really got interesting when our plants’ flower blossoms started attracting butterflies. I even bought a new digital camera so I could catch all the beauty to share on my gardening blogs.

Of course, it helps if you can actually see the flowers in your garden! Usually, that means putting the tall flowers at the back and the shorter plants at the front. But does that rule always hold true?

We offer a couple of suggestions that break the rules.

One of those tips involves planting flowers around rocks but you could also use stepping stones. Our stepping stone molds will give your garden a truly unique look… and give your flowers a background to help them stand out. Read it all here…

How To Turn Your Flower Garden Into A Butterfly Heaven

We like to think that our flower seeds will give your garden all the beauty it needs. With a little attention, they can do even more than that. The flowers can also attract butterflies, bringing additional color to your outdoor areas.

Our zinnias, for example, create nectar that’s a treat for the Silver Checkerspot, a yellow-orange butterfly found in most eastern and central states between May and September. Our purple coneflowers are popular with Common Wood-Nymphs and Monarch, and shasta daisies provide a meal for the Mourning Cloak, a beautiful purple-black butterfly that appears across almost the entire country.

You shouldn’t really need to do anything special to turn your flower garden into a butterfly paradise but a little planning can increase the numbers of butterflies that you attract — and the amount that you enjoy them.

Planting particular types of flowers in large groups, for example, will make them easier for butterflies to spot and give you fluttering clusters instead of migrating individuals that come in ones and twos. Creating areas of light and shade will let the butterflies both warm themselves in the sun and provide cool spots out of the heat. And puddles of water and rotting fruit can also give your butterflies a reason to stick around… provided you don’t mind the smell.

You can also try matching the plant favored by the larvae with the flower preferred by the butterfly. Place sunflowers near zinnias, for example, and you’ll create a nursery for the Silvery Checkerspots, guaranteeing a supply when the caterpillars pupate between May and September.

And finally, you can also plan your garden so that you have a spot to sit in the summer shade while the butterflies enjoy the flowers that surround you — and you enjoy both.

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Image via WikipediaWhat is butterfly gardening?

Simply put butterfly gardening is the art of growing flowers and plants that will attract these colorful and dainty creatures to your garden. Delight your family and visitors with beautiful butterflies, but be sure to create a safe habitat for them. If you own cats rethink your plans, because it would be a shame to attract these lovely insects to their death.

The design your butterfly garden is a matter of personal preference. Typical points to consider are the size of your garden and the types of flowers and plants you want to grow. Pick a style of garden that appeals to you, but ensure it also contains the plants and flowers that appeal to the butterflies you wish to attract.

It is important to find out which plants and flowers will attract the species of butterflies. that live in your area. This information can be found at the local library
To create the kind of environment that they find attractive, you will also need water of some kind. A birdbath will look attractive and keep the butterflies up off the ground, away from stray cats or mischievous puppies. A shallow dish on a post or hung in a tree will do just as well.

When planting your butterfly garden be careful how you coordinate the colors you choose for your flowerbeds. Although butterflies do not care about your choice of color, you don’t want your garden to be a hodgepodge of unrelated colors and textures. Butterflies are attracted to those flowers that have nectar rather than pollen, like honeysuckle, milkweed, summer lilac, Valerian, daisies, Purple Coneflower, Yellow Sage, day lilies and lavender.

Some people find it helpful to draw and color a layout of their butterfly gardening plan to see what the finished product would look like. Keep in mind that warm colors like red and orange are flashy and showy. These colors have a greater impact against a strong green background. Cool colors such as blue and purple are soothing and toned down and would work better with a white contrast to create the look of freshness and brightness.