How to Design a Butterfly Garden with Specific Butterflies in Mind

Plant a Butterfly Garden that Will Attract the Butterflies You Love

Butterflies are not all that different from humans when searching out a place to settle down and live. They look for a comfortable area to rest, eat, drink and, most importantly, a good place to raise their children. By designing a butterfly garden that provides for all their needs, you can go from having a yard where butterflies merely stop in for a visit to a place where they will want to hang their chrysalis and call home.

What Butterflies Look For In a Garden
Butterflies require two types of plants during their lifetime: a host plant for laying their eggs and feeding the caterpillars and nectar plants for feeding the adults. Different types of butterflies are attracted to different types of host plants and nectar plants. Plant an assortment of butterfly friendly plants to attract a wide variety of butterflies or choose specific plants to attract your favorite type of butterfly.

Butterflies need sunshine to warm themselves. Plant your butterfly garden in an area that receives at least 5-6 hours of sunlight each day. Provide a few flat stones mixed in with the plants to give the butterflies an area to spread their wings and rest in the sun. Make sure the area you choose has protection from the wind to make it easier for the butterflies to feed and sunbathe.

Butterflies require water in addition to their nectar. Keep a damp mud puddle somewhere in your butterfly garden. A bucket or bird feeder filled with sand and water will also suit their needs. Use enough water to moisten the sand without making the bucket version of a pond.

Choosing Your Butterfly Garden Plants
There are over 17,500 species of butterflies in the world. Approximately 750 of those live in the United States. Those numbers are further broken down by region, state and even county. Before planting your butterfly garden, it is important to know which butterflies are in your area. This will allow you to plant flowers and shrubs that are of interest to your local varieties. The website Butterfliesandmoths.org offers an online map that you can use to learn which butterflies are living around you.