southern parts of the world are starting our gardens. Sorry about the snow and cold but one of the best things about living in a temperate climate is growing garden flower seeds for our butterfly gardens. You can still think about your butterfly garden and start it indoors for when your spring does come out of hibernation.Grow plants for butterflies is exciting and of course, watching the beautiful butterflies in your garden is a treat. But you need plants in your garden to attract butterflies. I recently visited Key West’s Butterfly Conservatory, oh so beautiful, and they had an excellent book on butterflies which I bought, to help me with my butterfly project for this years flower garden.
The Life Cycles of Butterflies: From Egg to Maturity, is a book loaded with great information on 23 common butterflies in North America. A visual guide with pictures of the full life cycle, from larval to butterfly--remarkable visual resource and guidebook for butterfly lovers. But the best part of the book is the plants section showing plants that attract butterflies to take them through their life cycle. So which garden flowers do you need in your garden? Glad you asked cuz I have a list. To get butterflies to your garden they need certain flowers to devour. These garden flowers are like candy to a kid and butterflies will swoon when they notice them. Since butterflies will eat the plant it’s best to not treat them with anything (chemical) that will harm the butterflies. Try to use composting and organic fertilizers to protect the butterflies.
The Most Favorite Garden Flower Plants that Lure Butterflies to your Garden
Each type of butterfly has a favorite plant. Actually it’s the larva that likes the plant; the butterfly itself likes the nectar of the garden flower. They also are attracted by the color of the garden flower or maybe that’s just Mother Nature’s way of helping butterflies camouflages themselves from predators. Depending on the plant they will attract several types of butterflies. species Most are very easy to grow and don’t require any special attention. You can start them indoors if it’s still too cold in your area.
Dill (Antheum graveolens)
Dill pretty much grows all by itself. No help needed other than water and a little compost to keep it growing. You can also use it in the kitchen! Dill is great in soups, salads and especial when making pickles. It will host the Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly larvae. Dill can grow up to four feet tall, so plant it in the back sunny part of your garden. Sometime it may need a support to keep it upright.
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Fennel is not only very good in soups and roasts but the Eastern Black Swallowtails also loves it. The leaves fennel smell like licorice. It will grow up to six feet tall! Think of all the butterfly larva that can host. The butterfly’s larva will feed on it so get your share before the larva hatches. You are almost guaranteed to have swallowtails if you plant fennel in your garden. Asters (Aster spp)
Asters are perennials that need lots of sun light. They are easy to grow in average soil. No special handling or fertilizers. They come in a variety of blues, purples and several shades of pinks. Asters have a yellow center and a daisy-like look even though they are a member of the sunflower family. They grow to two feet and you will have lots of Crescent butterflies if you grow asters. Asters will seed themselves but you can also propagate them from division. They also make good cut flowers for vases and arrangements.
Milkweeds (Asclepias tuberosa)
Like bees make honey, milkweed is like a drug to Monarch butterflies. There are toxins in milkweed sap that makes them poisonous to birds. Which is one of the reasons birds stay away from Monarch butterflies. The Viceroy butterfly also likes milkweed and camouflages itself by looking like the Monarch. Birds don’t eat them, because they think the Viceroys are Monarchs, and poisonous. Milkweed is easy to grow but doesn’t like to be transplanted. So plant it where you want it to grow and let it seed and you will always have milkweed growing in your yard. (for the butterflies, of course) Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea)
Painted Lady butterflies love hollyhocks. Hollyhocks will go indoors or outdoors, of course they’re better outdoors but they can be started indoors for a head start on summer. They are biennial, meaning they will only bloom in the second year so buy some potted plants at the nursery or get a cutting. The best thing about hollyhocks is once planted you seldom have to plant again. They bloom from July through September then seed for the next year. They thrive best in full sun but will do reasonably well in partial shade. Hollyhocks are at their best when planted against an old wall or fence. Around the end of August
you’ll see them disappear due, of course from the larva of the Painted Lady. Wait until the cocoons have opened before cutting down the stalks and seed pods. Of course, you can just let them go and they will seed for next year. You can save the seeds but they do need to be subjected to the cold to help them germinate.These are just a few of the plants that will attract butterflies to your garden. There are many different types of butterflies and many, many types of garden flowers that will attract butterflies. The purple and yellow cone flower, Mexican sunflower, mmmm, my favorite garden flower, clover, any type of herbs and vegetables including mustard and Radishes. Also some butterfly favorites are violets, Dutchman's Pipe vine, nettles, thistles and sunflowers, just to name a few. Growing your own butterfly “host” plants to lure caterpillars to your organic garden will ensure that you have lots of butterflies to watch this summer! Good luck!
