Gardening for Butterflies

It is very relaxing when you can go out to the back garden to sit and watch the different kinds of butterflies floating all around you.  Butterfly gardens are getting more popular to enjoy, but also helps to preserve the conservation of butterflies.  The secret to getting a lot of butterflies is simply to grow the plants that caterpillars like to eat.  To maintain and support the adult butterflies you should pick nectar-producing plants.  By having these plants the butterflies will lay their eggs on them and stay in the area longer.  It is important to have flowers that are blooming in mid to late summer when the butterflies are very active.  They are attracted to flowers with bright colors with strong scents.  Make sure you keep the harmful pesticides away from your garden.  

Some things that will make a great habitat for the butterflies are to place some decorative rocks in your garden or a rock wall for the butterflies to lie in the sun.  They also need some type of shrubbery for shelter to get in when it rains.  If you don’t have a lot of room for a big garden but still want to attract butterflies, you can still have a garden for them by just hanging up a butterfly house.  These small and decorative habitats are built to only allow the butterflies access to the shelter and, with a nectar source close by, it will keep them there for a long time.

Don’t make the mistake of having too few nectar sources available for the butterflies.  They have relatively short lifespans and you need more than one food source to attract several butterflies.  Whether your garden is large or small, you will enjoy the beautiful fluttering creatures year after year.