Plant a Butterfly Garden in 3 Easy Steps
Having a successful butterfly garden is easy and anyone can create an attractive butterfly garden. Just follow these 3 simple steps and you’ll have butterflies flocking to your garden!
Certain plants and certain conditions are needed to attract butterflies and keep them coming back to visit your garden every day:
Step 1: A Warm Spot - butterflies are cold blooded and need the sun to warm them. Scan your garden area for a place that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight per day and it protected from the wind. Add large flat rocks for the butterflies to sunbathe on.
Step 2: The Right Plants - butterflies and caterpillars that will turn into beautiful butterflies rely on nectar rich flowers (see below for a list of flowers). Choose flowers of varying growth heights and blooming times. To feed the caterpillar larvae, plant milkweed (to lure monarch caterpillars), parsley and fennel (for black swallowtails), and yarrow, hollyhock, and borage (for painted ladies).
Step 3: Include Mud and/or Wet Sand – create a muddy area or include a container of wet sand in the area and keep it moist. Butterflies get sodium and minerals from these damp areas.
IMPORTANT!: Never use insecticides anywhere in your butterfly garden. Even “organic” pesticides and weed killers can harm these delicate insects.
Here some perfect plant choices for attracting butterflies to your garden:
| Annuals | |||
| Asters | Cosmos | Flossflower | Globe Amaranth |
| Lobelia | Marigold | Nicotiana | Petunia |
| Spider flower | Sweet alyssum | Zinnia | |
| Perennials | |||
| Astilbes | Bee balms | Black eyed susan | Blanketflower |
| Butterfly Bush | Butterfly Weed | Coreopsis | Gayfeather |
| Globe Thistle | Hyssop | Joe Pye Weed | Larkspur |
| Lavender | Milkweed | Phlox | Purple Coneflower |
| Yarrow | |||
If you find that you can’t locate some of these varieties in your local garden centers, try on line resources. Many times the on line prices are better, the choice is wider, and most offer some type of free shipping:
Many garden supply centers also sell Butterfly Garden Kits and Flower Mixes, like these:
Asclepias, ‘Gay Butterfly Mix’
Bird and Butterfly Mix Wildflower
Wildflower Seeds, Bird and Butterfly Mix
Don’t forget to let us know how your butterfly garden goes! You can contact us with questions or comments by using our handy Contact Form.