Butterfly Gardening

The design is a matter of personal preference. Typical points to consider are the size of the garden and the types of flowers and plants you want to grow. Pick a style that appeals to you, but make sure it also contains the plants and flowers that appeal to the butterflies you wish to attract.

It is important to find out which plants and flowers will attract the species of butterflies that live in your area. This information can be found at the local library

To create the kind of environment that they find attractive, you will also need water of some kind. A birdbath will look enticing and keep the butterflies up off the ground, away from stray cats or mischievous puppies. You can also hang a shallow dish on a post or even in a tree (if there are no cats around).

During the planning stage, be careful to coordinate the colors you choose for your flowerbeds. Although butterflies do not care about your choice of colors, you don't want your garden to be a hodgepodge of unrelated colors and textures. Butterflies are attracted to those flowers that have nectar rather than pollen, like honeysuckle, milkweed, summer lilac, Valerian, daisies, Purple Coneflower, Yellow Sage, day lilies and lavender.

It would be a good idea to draw and color a layout of your butterfly gardening plan to see what the finished product would look like. Keep in mind that warm colors like red and orange are flashy and showy. These colors have a greater impact against a strong green background. Cool colors such as blue and purple are soothing and toned down and would work better with a white contrast to create the look of freshness and brightness.

Go ahead! Create your butterfly garden to enjoy these beautiful creatures. I am sure you will enjoy hours and hours of your leisure time watching them flutter around your garden.