Butterfly Garden Project

Butterfly gardens can bring beauty and provide a habitat for their fluttering visitors.

A butterfly garden adds beauty to the landscape in the flowers it employs as well as from the delicate, fluttering visitors it draws. If done properly, a butterfly garden can also create a habitat for butterflies by providing them with shelter and a breeding ground.

Site Selection

A butterfly garden should be located in full sun to help the flowers it contains. It should also be protected from high winds which can damage butterflies and discourage them from visiting.

Plant Selection

Butterflies are drawn to nectar-producing plants like purple coneflower, dill, peony and Queen Anne's lace. The garden should have flowers in bloom throughout the season, particularly in late summer. There should also be some host plants such as milkweed or nearby trees.

Water

A water supply is not essential for butterflies but many butterflies engage in "puddling," a grouping of butterflies in a wet place where they can take in minerals not found in nectar. Proving such a place is a benefit to your butterfly garden and can be created by making a sandy area that you keep moist.

References

• University of Minnesota Extension: Creating a Butterfly Garden
• University of Illinois Extension: Create a Butterfly Garden
• North Carolina State University Extension Service: Planting a Butterfly Garden

Resources

• University of Kentucky Entomology: How to Make a Butterfly Garden