Spring is coming fast and with it the colors of the world come to life. The spring season is not just a time for the gardens to bloom, but a season for the butterfly to come to life as well. Your garden is an ocean of color and to keep this ocean of color coming back in the spring, your use of perennial bulbs, flowers, seeds, and shrubs will lessen tasks in the early spring. Butterflies that add that complete 'special touch' to your gardens will eagerly look for homes in your gardens if you can provide what it is they are searching for. So what are the colorful butterflies searching for arriving at your garden? Flowers such as the Butterfly weed, the New England aster, Blue false indigo, Cheddar pinks, Blanket flowers, Shasta daisies, Garden phlox, Showy stonecrop, Orange cone flowers and the Red valerian are a few of the most popular plants that butterflies will seek out. In some areas butterflies will be prevalent even if you are not planting the flowers or plants that attract butterflies the most, but this in rare cases. What makes most gardeners seek the addition of butterflies in the garden? The butterfly's grace, beauty, colors and the quietness of the butterfly is what attracts many gardens to butterflies. The butterfly moves through the garden, landing and taking off without ever really disturbing any on flower at all. This small creature is a pleasant addition to any area in the landscape. The organic garden is the perfect place for butterflies to relax. Chemicals and pest controls that you use in the garden can affect and drive away butterflies from your garden. What you need to remember when you are using chemicals in the garden is, if it is going to kill the larvae, your butterfly population is going to decease significantly. The butterfly will only reappear in your garden after hatching from the larvae that is deposited in your garden. Both fragrance and color are going to draw the butterfly to your garden. The scent from the flower must be strong to attract the butterfly. In planning a butterfly garden you will need to decide if any variety of plant is correct for your own grow zone. While the butterfly bush may be very successful in attracting butterflies, is it the correct plant for your temperature and environment seasonally? What exactly are butterflies going to live off? Besides living off the nectar from the flowers their selves, the butterfly also thrive off tree sap, animal droppings, fruit, and sweet vegetables in your gardens. The size of the flower is never going to matter to the butterfly, only the sweet fragrance and the color of the flower will. Additional flowers that you can consider for planting in the butterfly garden are the Butterfly bush, Liatris, Scaboisa, Sunflower, Verbena, Zinnias, Marigolds, Cosmos, Black eyed Susan, Lavender and Sage. Plan out your garden so the butterfly attracting plants are near the center of the garden, leaving the butterfly feeling highly secure from the wind, predators and even you! |
