How to Make A Butterfly Garden Habitat

Butterfly gardens not only attract these beautiful creatures to your yard, but provide butterflies a much needed habitat to thrive in. Make a butterfly garden today and turn your backyard into an enchanted butterfly oasis.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sunny Spot to plant
• Plants for shelter
• Plants for food
• Water

1. 

   You don't need a big yard or big dollars to create a butterfly garden habitat. There are only a few requirements for a successful butterfly garden. They are:
   1) Warmth
   2) Shelter
   3) Food - nectar plants and larval host plants
   4) Water

2. 

   WARMTH
   Pick a sunny spot to plant your garden. Butterflies are cold blooded and love the sun and its warmth. Also, keep in mind to incorporate rocks in your butterfly garden for butterflies to rest and sun themselves on.

3. 

   SHELTER
   Plant your garden in a sheltered area or plant bushes in your garden to provide a windbreak for the butterflies. Butterfly houses are pretty to look at but truth is, bushes and hedges provide a more attractive shelter to butterflies. Planting butterfly bushes or a large grouping of purple coneflower will not only provide nectar but are also a good source of shelter for butterflies.

4. 

   FOOD
   Add plants for their source of food. You'll need plants which provide nectar for mature butterflies. You'll also need larval host plants. Larval host plants are critical for a successful butterfly habitat. Suitable host plants will persuade the butterflies to stay a while and lay eggs. Here are a list of (but not limited to) the possible types of plants to include:
   
   Nectar plants:
   Butterfly Bush
   Lilac Bush
   Purple Coneflower
   Lavender
   Impatiens
   Snapdragon
   Sweet William
   Goldenrod
   Milkweed
   
   Larval Host Plants:
   Dill, Parsley, Anise (herbs)
   Verbena, Marigold (annuals)
   Violets, Hollyhock (perennial)
   
   **Please note** Plant in groupings as butterflies prefer groupings of plants to single seeded plants. If you want them to flock to your yard plant in large groupings.

5. 

   WATER
   Believe it or not, butterflies prefer to drink their water from mud pools. The reason they do is because they gain much needed salt and minerals from the mud. In your garden provide a moist shallow area in the dirt for them to drink from.

6. These are just the basic requirements to start your butterfly garden habitat. As you learn more about the different species of butterflies in your region and the type of plants which attract them, you can tweak your garden to suit their specific needs. Enjoy!

Tips & Warnings

• Maintain diversity in height, color and blooming periods in your garden.
• No pesticides please.

Resources

• eHow Home and Garden Topic Guide

[tracysmith159]

on 6/1/2009 What a great idea for a Garden. My kids love butterflys. Making a butterful house will be fun.