Butterfly Gardening

As more and more land is being claimed for buildings and parking lots, butterflies have no place to feed or lay their eggs. Butterflies are fragile flights of fancy that add color and interest to the outdoors. Unfortunately, they are disappearing from some areas. In addition to the floral beauty of your plants, butterflies aid in pollination and provide additional color. In order to draw more butterflies to your garden or window box, you should plant flowers that provide nectar for them. Certain butterflies are drawn to specific plants and they prefer plants with multiple blooms. If you visit www.butterfly--garden.com/index.html#gardens, you will find links for butterflies indigenous to each state in North America. Flowers that bloom throughout the summer are excellent draws for butterflies. When you plant flowers to draw butterflies, you need to consider host plants and trees where butterflies can lay their eggs. Their baby caterpillars cannot easily move to food sources. Female butterflies lay their eggs on specific plants where their youngsters can feed. That is why you find holes in cabbage leaves and other plants. You should be judicious in your use of industrial pesticides. You may want to have a few rocks in your garden where butterflies can sunbathe. They engage in interesting activities such as, "puddling," when they are getting water and minerals from wet dirt. You will discover that butterflies can be territorial. Sometimes, butterflies need shelter from weather and wind. You can find butterfly houses at www.butterfly-gifts.com/butterfly-house.html as well as nectar mixes and seeds for butterfly flowers. These are just a few things you can do to draw butterflies to your yard for your enjoyment and their conservation.