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[H840]How To Attract Butterflies

by Janet Ashby, Jan

Flowers and Bushes

To attract butterflies to your garden you need to provide attractive food in the form of brightly coloured flowers and feeders and puddles for drinking water. Leave a part of your garden wild by allowing the grass to grow longer and sprinkling wild flower seeds throughout the area. Choose an area that has sunshine for most of the day but is sheltered from the wind. A few flat stone scattered about will provide resting places. At the edges of the wild area plant flowers and shrubs with brightly coloured blooms.

Butterflies prefer single flowers rather than double blooms as they are easier for gathering nectar. Mix up the colours as butterflies have different preferences. Some will be attracted to flowers in shades of red, orange or yellow, some prefer whites or blues or purples. Also plant in clumps to provide an attractive mass of colour. Annuals and perennials to plant include phlox, lavender, zinnias, asters, candytuft, catnip, daisies, goldenrod, verbena and Marigold. Shrubs and bushes include the butterfly bush (buddleia), honeysuckle, mock orange, potentilla, hawthorn, lilac, and hyacinth.

Make an Artificial Puddle

Shallow puddles will attract butterflies so you can make a permanent artificial puddle. Take a shallow dish and add some sand then moisten with water, stale beer or some fruit juice. Bury the dish up to the rim in a sunny part of the garden.

Food for Butterflies

Butterflies love fermenting fruit and vegetables. A fruit tree in the garden will attract the butterflies if you allow the fallen fruit to stay on the ground. Put out small amounts of over ripe fruit, any type will do, butterflies will love it mushy and fermenting. Uneaten bananas can be stored in the freezer and defrosted when required. The freezing process will turn them black and the fruit inside will be mushy. Just right for attracting butterflies!

Feeders for Butterflies

An easy butterfly feeder can be made by using a shallow saucer or dish with a sloping rim and hanging to a tree branch or pergola with flower pot hangers. Hang it higher than the surrounding flowers. To attract the butterflies plastic or silk flowers can be attached to the hanger. Put some mushy, fermenting fruit sprinkled with water or fruit juice in the dish. Check regularly to make sure it is still damp as butterflies do not like dried food.

Butterfly Nectar

In place of the rotten fruit you could make butterfly nectar by boiling together 1 cup of sugar and 4 cups of water. Do not add any food colouring but, to attract the butterflies, add some brightly coloured objects or plastic flowers to the feeder. You can store the unused nectar in the refrigerator for around a week.

Sponge Butterfly Feeders

Brightly coloured sponges can be soaked in butterfly nectar and hung from pergolas or trees in areas where there are no other flowers.

By providing the ideal conditions for butterflies you will enjoy their visits throughout the summer.

Attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden can be as easy as planting flowers they love! One butterfly and hummingbird magnet is the butterfly bush. When checking catalogs, the Latin name can be classified as either "Buddleia davidii" or "Buddeleia davidii" (most common). Technically, the butterfly bush is a shrub, although it grows much like a perennial in that it dies completely to the ground each year. Buddeleia are best suited in USDA hardiness zones 5 - 10. In the lower zones, the butterfly bush won't survive the winter.

There are a wide variety of Buddeleia. You can choose one by size or flower color. Typically, Buddleia grow anywhere from 6 to 12 feet tall and can spread as much as 15 feet across. The plant looks somewhat like a fountain when fully grown, with slender arching branches or stems. The leaf color can vary from silver green to dark green. The tip of each stem will have a long cone-like flower head, made up of tiny tube shaped individual flowers. The plant will bloom from early summer through the first frost.

Some popular cultivars of Buddleia are:

- Buddleia davidii 'Black Knight' - dark purple flowers, height to 72 inches.
- Buddleia davidii 'Nanho Blue' - deep blue flowers, height to 60 inches.
- Buddleia davidii 'Royal Red' - magenta flowers, height to 96 inches.

If you want to try a more unusual plant, try:

- Buddleia davidii 'Harlequin' - pale, variegated foliage with magenta blooms. Height to 72 inches.
- Buddleia davidii 'Butterfly Hybrids' - a mix of white, pink and purple blooms on the same plant. Height to 60 inches.

Buddleia grow best in well drained soil and full sun. Keep in mind the full sun is also what will attract the butterflies, as they need the sun to warm their body temperature for flying. When you plant your Buddleia, water thoroughly. While they will tolerate dry conditions, don't let the newly planted bush dry out until it is established.

Like perennials, the butterfly bush will die down to the ground over the winter in colder climates. In colder hardiness zones, place mulch over the plant after the first hard freeze. Do not cut back the old wood until spring time to give the root crown extra protection. For warmer climates, prune the Buddleia back by about one third in early spring . In the spring, remove the mulch. Buddleia are slow to awaken in the spring, well after the last frost, so don't give your bush up for dead if you don't see growth for a while! During the bloom season, prune off the spent blossoms (called dead-heading) to encourage new flowers.

Deciding how many Buddleia to add to your garden is dependent upon how much space you have. Buddleia look great as a single specimen plant, or as mass groupings. When grouping Buddleia, keep them in the back of the garden, as there height will make a great back drop. The more bushes you plant, the more butterflies you will attract!

Article Source : Pg. 49

About Author

Both Janet Ashby & Michael Russell are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Janet Ashby has sinced written about articles on various topics from Recreation and Sports, Pets and Gardening. Janet Ashby is a keen gardener who finds gardening in the tropics a challenge. For more information and lots of craft ideas visit or. Janet Ashby's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.

Michael Russell has sinced written about articles on various topics from Celebrities, Dieting and Diabetes Treatment. Michael RussellYour Independent guide to . Michael Russell's top article generates over 2240000 views. to your Favourites.