Butterfly Gardening - Using Butterfly Garden Plants

Other examples of butterfly-friendly flowering plants include asters, black-eyed Susans, fritillaries, Joe-Pye weeds, marigolds, purple coneflowers, salvias, echinacea, zinnias, butterfly bush, and butterfly weed.

What should I plant in a butterfly garden?

Butterfly Garden Flowers

Phlox. Phlox is a low-growing, spreading plant that forms a blanket of blooms all summer. ...
Coneflower (Echinacea) Coneflower is one of the best flowers for attracting butterflies. ...
Lantana. ...
Bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii) ...
Pot Marigolds. ...
Black-Eyed Susan. ...
Blazing Star Flowers (Liatris spicata) ...
Heliotrope.

How do I make my garden butterfly friendly?

Share:

Butterfly gardens don't have to be large. ...
Butterflies need the sun to maintain body temperature, so place your garden in the sunniest location possible.
The key to attracting butterflies is to provide them with lots of nectar sources; they also prefer to feed on open, tube-shape flowers.

What is the best plant to attract butterflies?

Plants that attract butterflies

Alyssum.
Aster.
Bee balm.
Butterfly bush.
Calendula.
Cosmos.
Daylily.
Delphinium.

Do butterfly gardens need full sun?

Butterflies are cold-blooded insects that require the sun's warmth to help their bodies work. However, you can grow both host and nectar flowering plants in shaded gardens adjacent to sun-drenched areas like driveways or patios, and still, attract winged visitors.

What color butterfly bush attracts the most butterflies?

Most people know about lavender being purple as there is even a color called “lavender,” however, the plant also has a “rose” variety that is pink. So you can pink up your garden or purple it out, and still attract many butterflies to it.

What plants attract butterflies but not bees?

What Flowers Attract Butterflies?

1 – Yarrow. The yarrow plant is one of the more herbaceous flowers out there. ...
2 – Hollyhocks. This is a favorite in many different gardens out there. ...
3 – Sunflowers. There is no greater summertime plant than a sunflower. ...
4 – Shasta Daisy.

What is a butterfly garden called?

A butterfly house, conservatory, or lepidopterarium is a facility which is specifically intended for the breeding and display of butterflies with an emphasis on education.

How do I prepare my soil for a butterfly garden?

Compost provides exactly that, helping to boost the soil structure, add nutrients and improve the way that water moves through the soil. For best results, add 3 inches of compost to the butterfly garden and mix it into the top 8 inches of soil. This helps keep your butterfly garden healthy and growing all year.

How much does it cost to build a butterfly garden?

Landscape design services cost about $. 03 to $. 10 per square foot to plan a full butterfly garden for your home. Flowers are crucial when it comes to attracting butterflies, particularly their color, fragrance, and shape.

What is a hummingbird's favorite flower?

Brightly-colored flowers that are tubular hold the most nectar, and are particularly attractive to hummingbirds. These include perennials such as bee balms, columbines, daylilies, and lupines; biennials such as foxgloves and hollyhocks; and many annuals, including cleomes, impatiens, and petunias.

What foods attract butterflies?

Butterflies are particularly fond of oranges, grapefruits, cantelope, strawberries, peaches, nectarines, kiwi, apples, watermelon, and bananas, especially mushy bananas that have been stored in the freezer and then thawed. Some species love a “brew” of rotting fruit, molasses, beer, and brown sugar.

Who eats butterfly?

Some of the common predators of butterflies include but are certainly not limited to: wasps, ants, parasitic flies, birds, snakes, toads, rats, lizards, dragonflies and even monkeys! A few of the other animals that are constantly adding butterflies onto their menu list are frogs and spiders.

Why butterfly bush is bad?

The shrub is actually considered to be invasive, meaning it competes with the native plants in the area and will continue to spread and be harmful to the local eco-system. ... Not only is butterfly bush harmful for the eco-system but it's also an ineffective host plant for butterflies despite the name.

Should you mulch a butterfly garden?

After you plant your butterfly garden, spread several inches of mulch over the soil to help suppress the growth of weeds and keep the soil moist longer during times of drought. In a butterfly garden, you may not need to worry as much about weeds as some weed species are good butterfly attractors, as well.

What flowers bloom all summer in the shade?

Perennials For Shade That Bloom All Summer!

Geranium – Perfect Flower for Shade Gardens! ...
Astilbe – Shade Perennials That Are Repeat Bloomers. ...
Spiderwort – Perennials Flowers for Shade or Sun. ...
Hardy Fuchsias – Part Shade Perennials That Bloom All Summer. ...
Campanula (Bellflower) – Blue & Purple Perennial Flowers for Shade.

Do butterfly bushes attract hummingbirds?

The flowers from this bush is an attraction for hummingbirds because it has a high nectar count. Additionally, they are drawn to the long, brightly colored spikes resembling lilacs. As a result, it is possible to create a butterfly and hummingbird garden by including this gorgeous bloom.

What colors attract butterflies?

Plant type and color is important - Adult butterflies are attracted to red, yellow, orange, pink and purple blossoms that are flat-topped or clustered and have short flower tubes. Plant good nectar sources in the sun - Your key butterfly nectar source plants should receive full sun from mid-morning to mid-afternoon.

How fast do butterfly bushes grow?

The fast-growing butterfly bush reaches a mature height of 6 to 10 feet tall in one or two growing seasons. The cone or wand-shaped flower heads grow 5 to 12 inches long and bloom from summer through fall. The flowers bloom on arching branches.

What plants do butterflies lay their eggs on?

After mating, female butterflies search for a specific kind of “host plant” on which to lay eggs. For example, monarchs lay eggs on milkweed, black swallowtails on parsley, and tiger swallowtails on tulip tree or wild cherry. In a few days, caterpillars emerge from the eggs and begin to eat.

Do Pentas attract butterflies?

Pentas is one of the best butterfly-attracting plants around. Pentas develop sparkling star-shaped flowers all summer long in bold hues of red, white, lavender, purple, or pink that attract butterflies by the dozens as well as hummingbirds.

Do pansies attract butterflies?

Did you know pansies attract butterflies? ... A little research showed these are commonly recommended for your butterfly garden in winter when few other attractors are blooming.