Butterfly gardening tips! Find out what plants you need. Learn about special considerations.
Butterflies are a very beautiful insect that many of us would like to attract to our garden. But it takes more than just having flowers in order to become a haven for butterflies. When thinking of a butterfly garden, one must not think just about what butterflies need but also what caterpillars need. Butterflies feed on flower nectar and prefer bright and simple flowers. These flowers need to be shallow and have an adequate perching surface. Flowers with stronger scents generally produce more nectar. Butterflies need nectar year-round, so it is important to have flowers in bloom for each season. Some adults choose to feed on manure, rotting fruit, mud, or sap instead of nectar. This means that you may wish to also have a compost pile for your butterflies to feed on.
Pesticides should be avoided as they are deadly to the caterpillars and butterflies. They may keep away thet unwanted insects - but they also keep butterflies away as well.
Now you are thinking of what you should plant in order to attract the beautiful creatures. It is not enough to just pick plants with flowers. Butterflies also like trees, ground cover and more. Here you will find a list of plants and trees that are know to attract butterflies. Remember that some are for feeding and others are for nesting.
Trees that will attract:
Blue Beech, Hackberry, Fringe Tree, May Haw, Persimmon, Pop Ash, Jatropha, Southern Red Cedar, Sweet Bay, Red Mulberry, Wax Myrtle, Avocado, Redbay, Slash Pine, Spruce Pine, Longleaf Pine, Chickasa Plum, Cherry Laurel, Laurel Oak, Myrtle Oak, Water Oak, Live Oak, Winged Elm, Florida Elm, and Chinese Elm.
Shrubs that will attract: Glossy Abelia, Climbing Aster, Tar Flower, Butterfly Bush, Cherokee Bean, Firebush, Plumbago, Florida Flame Azalea, Piedmont Azalea, Winged Sumac, Rosemary, Necklace Pod, and Viburnum
Ground covers that attract:
Verbena, Stoke's aster, Rosemary, Showy stonecrop Sedum, Lemon Thyme, Thyme, Yarrow, Vanilla Plant, Deer Tongue, Pyrethrum Daisy, Shasta Daisy, Lantana, Tailing Lantana, Gold Lantana, Pineapple Mint
Climbing vines that attract:
Yellow jessamine, passion flower, Blue Portorweed
Herbaceous Perennials that will attract:
Scalet Milkweed, Silvery Aster, Garden Mum, Golden Aster, Purple Coneflower, Yellow Top, Blazing Star, Cardinal Flower, Bee Balm, Dotted Mint, Pentas, Garden Phlox, Black eyed Susan, Wild Petunia, Tropical Sage, Pineapple Sage
The Plants for Larval Foods:
Ash, Avocado, Red Bay, Bays, Cherries, Citrus Trees, Elms, Hackberry, Hawthorns, Legumes, Mulberries, Oaks, Pines, Plums, Sweet Bay, Willows. Yellow-poplar, Maypops, Oleander, Passion Flower, Pawpaw, Sumac, Wax Myrtle, Alfalfa, Asters, Beans, Clover, Figworts, Leadwort, Mallows, Marigolds, Milkweeds, Mints, Mustards, Nasturtiums, Parsley, Poinsettia, Saltwort, Senna, Soybean, Spider Flower, Stonecop, Vevains, Wild carrot
Before you begin planting you should buy a soil testing kit. This way you will learn the balance of you soil. Some plants prefer acidic, while other prefer alkaline. When you buy the plants you should fine that information on their tags or seed packets. You can prepare you soil by adding fertilizers or lime to bring it to the levels of the desired plants. Also don't forget that you want year round blooming so look for plants that flower in the different seasons.
