butterfly garden

Want a butterfly garden? Here are some tips from the "backyardblogger". And don't forget, the Natorps sale would be a great time to get started.

Creating a butterfly garden is actually pretty easy. Butterflies are attracted to brightly colored flowers, so many of the popular annuals will be appropriate for a butterfly garden. Some other perennials they like are orange or purple coneflower, catmint, coreopsis, black-eyed Susan, butterfly weed, butterfly bush, English lavender, liatris, salvia, roses, yellow daylilies, and bright purple petunias.

A source of moisture is also important, although butterflies only drink from very shallow water sources, such as puddles – so the birdbath we placed in that part of the flowerbed turned out to be just for visual interest. When I water the plants, I try to leave some shallow puddles on the walk next to the flowerbed. You can also put a saucer in the garden and fill it with some water on top of sand or small stones.

Because butterflies can be blown about by gusts of wind, they like sunny locations with protection from the wind. Locating your flowerbed close to a wall, fence, hedge, or other windbreak may help to make your garden a place butterflies will want to hang out.