butterfly gardening: attracting butterflies to your garden

By Barbara Arnold, horticultural designer and spokesperson, Franklin Park Conservatory

Butterflies have always fascinated nature-lovers, but it's easier than most people think to create a butterfly garden and attract butterflies to your own backyard. Plus, such gardens are environmentally friendly and often feature native plants that need minimal care.

A butterfly garden can be any size, from a large plot of land to a container, as long as you choose a good location for the garden. Since butterflies and the plants that attract them need bright light and warmth, make sure the garden is in a sunny spot. Successful butterfly gardening also includes planning appropriate habitats. For example, butterflies prefer to feed and lay eggs in sheltered areas, where they will not have to fight wind gusts. This protection can be provided by shrubby nectar and food plants like butterfly bush, spicebush or viburnum, but a small fence or even a large rock can serve as shelter from the wind. Some butterflies drink and extract salts from moist soil so it is also a good idea to include damp spots or shallow puddles for water and nutrients. Placing a few rocks or sticks in these puddles allows the butterflies to perch and drink. Rocks also provide a site where butterflies can bask to store body heat from the sun.

Determining which types of butterflies are in your area will help you select which flowers you should grow. There are nearly 150 species of butterflies found in Ohio, so it can take a little research to decide what to plant. Different species of butterflies have different preferences of nectar or only lay eggs on certain types of plants, and caterpillars can also be very specific about their eating habits. Plant nectar-producing flowers like Echinacea, phlox, and lantana in bright colors, and concentrate the plants to maximize color and attract butterflies. Groups of flowers are easier for them to find than isolated plants. Flat daisy-like flowers, or clusters of short, tubular flowers are the easiest shapes for which butterflies to land and feed. A wide variety of nectar-producing plants and host plants will attract the greatest diversity of visitors.

With the right shrubs, perennials and annuals, it's possible to create a garden that attracts butterflies from spring through fall. For example, planting spring azaleas, summer butterfly bush and fall asters will help provide nectar throughout the season. This will entice a continuous succession of new visitors to your garden. When selecting plants for your butterfly garden it is important to also provide larval host plants in addition to nectar sources. By growing host plants you encourage the visiting butterflies to breed and lay eggs. Monarch caterpillars eat only milkweed, but good host plants for other species include nettle, marigold, nasturtium and fennel. A variety of plants will provide food for butterflies throughout their lifecycle.

Finally, it is important to remember that most garden pesticides are toxic to butterflies. Predatory insects and hand removal of pests are better ways to maintain a healthy environment for visiting butterflies.

You can e-mail your questions about butterfly gardening or other gardening questions to Barbara Arnold at info@ourohio.org

Plants to Attract Butterflies

ANNUALS

Ageratum

Cosmos

Lantana

Heliotrope (Heliotropium)

Marigold (Tagetes)

Penta

Petunia

Verbena

Zinnia

PERENNIALS

Aster

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)

Coreopsis (tickweed)

Daylily (Hemerocallis)

Echinacea (coneflower)

Phlox

Scabiosa (pincushion flower)

Sedum (stonecrop)

Yarrow (Achillea)

WOODY PLANTS

Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)

Lilac (Syringa)

Mock Orange (Philadelphus)

Privet (Ligustrum)

Rhododendron

Sargent Cherry (Prunus sargentii)

Viburnum

HOST PLANTS

Plant host plants for caterpillars. Female butterflies will only lay eggs on the plants that caterpillars will eat.

Aster

False Nettle (Boehmeria)

Fennel (Foeniculum)

Marigold (Tagetes)

Milkweed (Asclepias)

Parsley (Petroselinum)

Passionflower (Passiflora)

Paw Paw (Asimina)

Violet (Viola)

Wild Cherry (Prunus)

Nasturtium (Tropaeolum)

Spice Bush (Lindera)

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