Welcoming butterflies to your garden
Butterflies make a beautiful addition to any garden, complementing flowers and foliage with bright colors and movement. While few of us have the resources to maintain a conservatory full of tropical plants and exotic butterflies like those you'll see at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park this spring, almost anyone can encourage butterflies to make frequent visits to a home garden. By providing the appropriate food plants, creating sources of moisture and offering shelter from the elements and predators, you can turn your garden into a haven that butterflies will find irresistible.
Get to know the locals
If you want to invite butterflies to your garden, you need to learn a bit about the butterflies in your area. Pick up a field guide to butterflies at a bookstore, nature center or at Meijer Gardens Gift Shop. Use the book to identify the butterflies that you see in your neighborhood. Are these butterflies typically seen in the spring, summer, fall or throughout the growing season? What kinds of flowers are most attractive to the adult butterflies? What plants do the butterfly larvae feed on? For more information, check out our list of good nectar sources and larval plants.
Sit in your garden on a sunny day and see how many butterflies stop by. Which plants do they seem to like best? Do they pause to rest on tree trunks, paved areas or stones? Do they tend to linger in one or two areas? Where do they go to seek protection from wind or rain, where do they like to bask in the sun? Do they congregate to drink from puddles?
Using what you learn from your observations, give butterflies more of what they seem to like. If they clearly adore the buddleia bush in the corner by the fence, plant another buddleia close by. If the butterflies ignore the buddleia that occupies the breezy spot near the corner of the house, transplant it to a sheltered spot near the fence and see what happens. Do butterflies flock to puddles after you water the lawn? Do them a favor by keeping the puddles supplied with moisture between lawn sprinkling sessions.
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