Attracting butterflies to your yard is easy with the right plants and flowers.
Butterflies are such amazing and beautiful insects. Many find it hard to believe that a butterfly is an insect because of its beauty and grace. Butterflies are one of the few insects we like to see and often try to attract to our yards.
According to an article on a website called "In the Garden", written by Master Gardener Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp, insecticides kill good insects as well as the undesirable ones, and if you want to attract butterflies to your yard, you need to avoid using insecticides.
Sharp suggests providing shallow, water filled pans or saucers with stones, gravel, or sand in the bottom, since butterflies often drink from puddles. She adds that aquarium gravel is a good choice that is available in pet shops and other stores. Keep the water clean by changing it daily.
The same article also tells that butterflies like nectar producing plants. Butterflies sip the nectar from flowers using an extension that resembles a straw. The butterfly can roll this extension down to feed. Besides being beautiful, butterflies help pollinate flowers by transferring the pollen that has clung to their legs.
Below is a list of plants recommended by Sharp to attract butterflies.
*Flowering tobacco
*Asters
*Daylily
*Black-eyed Susan
*Cosmos
*Butterfly weed
*Coreopsis
*Coneflower
*Zinnia
*Gaillardia
*Yarrow
*Goldenrod
*Verbena
*Lantana
*Sweet alyssum
*Liatris
*Shasta daisy
*Marigold
*Sedum
*Scabiosa
People who have balconies, decks, or patios can also attract butterflies, Sharp adds. Large containers, whiskey barrels, or large pots can be used to create a butterfly garden, says Sharp. Sharp suggests growing red salvia, flowering tobacco, and sweet alyssum together in a garden container. She also recommends planting your flowers in an area that is visible to your window or deck, and mixing your plants throughout your yard if it is possible.
Creating a butterfly habitat can be very pleasurable. There are numerous species of butterflies to attract, and once your garden is blooming, you are sure to have visitors. Besides the enjoyment you will get from the beautiful butterflies that visit your yard, you will have an abundance of fragrant flowers to enjoy.
