If your goal is to attract the maximum number of both butterflies and species of butterfly to your garden, you must plant a variety of butterfly garden flowers. The best place to plant flowers which attract butterflies is in full sun. Butterflies prefer warm sunny areas and are thought to like pink, red, orange, and yellow flowers the most. They like trumpet-shaped flowers and those with broad petals that provide a good place to land.
Some perennial butterfly garden plants and flowers include: aster, bee balm, black eyed Susan, chives, coreopsis, daisy, hibiscus, lobelia, milkweed, phlox, sedum, and yarrow. Some annual butterfly garden plants and flowers include: cosmos, impatiens, marigold, nasturtium, sunflower, verbena, and zinnia.
Butterfly garden host plants are where the butterflies prefer to lay their eggs. They are chosen because of what the larvae, or caterpillars, eat after hatching. Obviously, these plants will be chewed up by the larvae, and might do better at the back of the garden or hidden behind another tall plant.
Some perennial butterfly garden plants and flowers include: aster, bee balm, black eyed Susan, chives, coreopsis, daisy, hibiscus, lobelia, milkweed, phlox, sedum, and yarrow. Some annual butterfly garden plants and flowers include: cosmos, impatiens, marigold, nasturtium, sunflower, verbena, and zinnia.
Butterfly garden host plants are where the butterflies prefer to lay their eggs. They are chosen because of what the larvae, or caterpillars, eat after hatching. Obviously, these plants will be chewed up by the larvae, and might do better at the back of the garden or hidden behind another tall plant.
Different butterfly species need different butterfly garden host plants. Some of them include alfalfa, clover, herbs such as dill, fennel, and parsley, plantains, cabbages, sunflowers, milkweed, and nettle.
Some butterflies prefer to lay their eggs on trees. While planting new trees just for your butterfly garden can be impossible, having these varieties around will help attract more of the colorful insects. Some of the most popular trees for butterflies include sycamores, willows, locust trees, aspen, elm, and flowering fruit trees such as cherry and peach.
Planting the two types of butterfly garden plants will ensure that you attract the maximum number of butterflies to your garden. You must provide both nectar producing flowers and butterfly garden host plants for the caterpillars.
Butterflies also need a shallow source of water and a flat surface to sit in the sun in the morning to warm up. There are fewer joys in the world greater than watching butterflies dance among the flowers in Kentucky. The joy is even greater when introducing your child or grandchild to the dance of the butterflies.
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