How to invite butterflies in our garden?

Here is a wonderful article that I believe will help you attract all the beautiful butterflies you will want.





http://gardening.about.com/od/gardendesi...
How to invite butterflies in our garden?
Attracting butterflies to your garden involves essentially two things: (1) planting the right flowers in the right place, and (2) refraining from the use of chemical insecticides. To attract more species of butterflies, you could add to the butterfly garden a mud puddle, a bowl of rotting fruit, and/or mammal manure. With or without these additional lures, however, many butterflies will be enticed to visit a garden that provides desirable nectar sources which are not poisoned with insecticides.


The location of your property plays a role in determining how many butterfly species might visit your garden for flower nectar. Some species of butterflies prefer open areas while others elect to reside near wet meadows or deciduous forests. Thus, a person living in an open rural area, near a stream or swamp, and adjacent to a deciduous forest will likely attract more species of butterflies to his or her garden than will a city dweller.


The best position for a butterfly garden is in full sun. Butterflies are cold-blooded insects that can only fly well when their body temperatures are above 70 degrees F. You have probably noticed that butterfly activity is limited on cool, cloudy days and increased on warm, sunny days. Without warmth, butterflies are physically unable to fly.


It is advisable to plant the butterfly garden in a location that is sheltered from the wind. Wind currents make flight maneuver difficult for butterflies and require the expenditure of extra energy as they try to feed, mate, and lay eggs. A wind break can be provided by simply planting evergreens to protect the garden from prevailing winds.


When deciding on the plants to incorporate into your butterfly garden, choose a mixture of annuals and perennials. Annuals bloom all summer but must be replanted every spring (after the last frost). Perennials bloom year after year from the same roots but their blooming periods are typically limited to a few weeks or months.


To enable the sight of most of the flowers (and butterflies) in your garden, plant the shortest flowers in front and the tallest ones in the back. Plant flower species in masses as butterflies seem to choose those flowers that are most abundant. Being equipped with a highly sensitive sense of smell, butterflies are able to identify clusters of nectar flowers from quite a distance.


Across the United States, there seems to be little consensus on the flower color or flower species that most attracts butterflies. Some experts claim that butterflies prefer purple, lavender, and pink flowers. Others proclaim red, yellow, and blue blossoms to be the color preference of nectar-seeking butterflies. Some butterfly gardeners insist that Lantana is an excellent butterfly-attracting plant while others insist that it is not.


It is likely the case that different species of butterflies show a preference for different species of flowers. And since different species of butterflies inhabit different regions of the U.S., different flowers may be utilized for nectar in different regions.


The selection of flowers offered as nectar sources also plays a role in what the butterflies choose as nectar sources. If a garden includes butterfly bushes, Mexican sunflowers, and purple coneflowers, you will likely find most of the feeding butterflies on these flowers. If hungry butterflies do not have the option of feeding on butterfly bushes, Mexican sunflowers, and purple coneflowers though, they will settle for something less desirable just to get their hunger satisfied.


Though avid North American butterfly gardeners may disagree on many aspects of butterfly gardening, they tend to agree that every butterfly garden should include butterfly bushes (Buddleia davidii). Throughout the United States, the flowers of butterfly bush prove to be irresistable to many species of butterflies. Butterfly bushes grow 4' to 12' high, depending upon the variety chosen. Blooming mid July through frost, their fragrant flower spikes may be white, lavender, pink, or purple.


Among the best perennials for attracting butterflies to the garden for feeding are butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Stoke's aster (Stokesia laevis), tickseed (Coreopsis), lavender (Lavandula), blanket flower (Gaillardia aristata, Gaillardia grandiflora)), Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum), and pincushion flower (Scabiosa columbaria). Other perennials utilized as butterfly nectar sources include black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), dame's rocket (Hesperis matrolalis), hardy ageratum (Eupatorium coelestinum), heliopsis (Heliopsis helianthoides), ornamental oregano (Origanum lacvigatum), pinks (Dianthus), showy stonecrop (Sedum spectabile), beebalm (Monarda didyma), goldenrod (Solidago), red valerian (Centranthus), daylily (Hemerocallis), hyssop (Hyssopus), Phlox, and Aster.


To ensure the availability of nectar sources throughout the summer, long-blooming annuals should be planted between the perennials you choose for planting. Zinnia, tropical milkweed, Mexican sunflower, cosmos, verbena, lantana, pentas, strawflower, and heliotrope are good annual choices for the butterfly garden. Experiment with different flower colors to determine what the butterflies in your area seem to prefer.


Just by planting the right flowers in the right place, you will likely attract many species of butterflies to your garden. Amidst these butterflies will probably be Monarchs, Swallowtails, Painted Ladies, Red Admirals, Fritillaries, Hairstreaks, Coppers, and Crescents.


While flower nectar is the chief food source for most butterflies, a few butterfly species prefer to feast on rotting fruit, mud, and/or mammal manure. Red Admirals, Red-spotted Purples, Commas, and Mourning Cloaks are among those butterflies that sometimes dine on rotting fruit. Spring Azures, Eastern Tailed Blues, Sulphurs, and Swallowtails are known to extract nutrients from mud. Viceroys, Red Admirals, Meadow Fritillaries, and other butterfly species periodically feast on mammal manure.


Butterflies add beauty to our world and fascinate people of every age. Entice butterflies to visit your own back yard by planting the flowers that most appeal to them. Enjoy your summer hobby of butterfly gardening!
Reply:Talk to your garden nursery.They can advise you on the best flowers for this.
Reply:Butterflies like certain types of plants, for example, sedums, coneflowers (echinechea), cranesbill (perennial geranium), rockcress, achillea (yarrow) and milkweed. The only ones I don't have in my garden are the milkweed and achillea and that's because I don't have quite enough sunshine to grow it properly. The others grow quite well for me plus they're not demanding plants. For more flowers that attract butteflies plus other things butteflies like check out www.butteflywebsite.com
Reply:Butterflies love flowers that have a bunch of little flowers on them. The two plants they really love around my house are:





Butterfly Bush (a pretty bush with blue, purple, pink or white cone shaped flowers)





Agastache (a perennial with purple flowers at the top)








Last year they liked the Butterfly Bush best. This year they like the Agastache best.
Reply:Much has been said to this point and I agree with most of it. However, sight must not be lost of the fact that to entice butterflies you have to provide the correct food for the Caterpillar. Now this is where the trick lies. I would recommend as many endemic host plants as you can possibly cram into your garden. From there let nature take its course. Bring nature back to your garden. Lose a few of the exotics and go endemic indigenous route.
Reply:I have tons of butterflies and golden finches in my flower garden.


I have a lot of colored flowers in my garden.


The finches like sunflowers.


But butterflies like bright colors, orange, red, yellow.


The butterflies like zinnias.
Reply:ooooh, rotting fruit? Hmmmm! That maybe explains why I have Monarchs (gorgeous butterflies) fly over so much lately = in my backyard, right by my squirrel %26amp; bird "feeder" tree-stump!!! That's all I use, and it brings many birds %26amp; gentle critters around -I have an old tree stump (not rooted into the ground, but just from some older cutting %26amp; placed there a long time ago.. *Try it - it might work!!)
Reply:HOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLY CRAP SHE WROTE A LOT
Reply:The only things you need to draw butterflies to your garden are nectar plants and host plants for their babies. It's a good idea to keep a shallow saucer of water with rocks available as well. Here is a site that tells you exactly the types of flowers you will need to attract butterflies to your garden.


http://www.milkweedcafe.com/gardenplantl...











Cin_Ann, I'm sure it was just an over sight, but if you are going to copy and paste an entire article then you really need to site your source.


Here it is:


http://www.butterflybushes.com/butterfly...
Reply:I'll make this short and sweet. My wife and I were wondering the same thing until we visited some friends last weekend. They had a beautiful butterfly bush in their yard (in full sunlight). There was no less than 10 butterflies on it at all times. It was beautiful !!!