Home Gardening
Butterfly Gardening
Garden Tips Newsletter - May 28, 2001
For those wishing to attract
more butterflies to your garden, here are a few tips.
A butterfly garden should contain:
- Nectar plants for butterfly
feeding (Black-eyed Susan, Joe-Pye weed, Liatris, Coreopsis, Pentas,
Asters, Butterfly or Milkweed, Purple Coneflower, Butterfly Bush,
Lantana)
- Caterpillar plants for larvae
feeding (Willow and Hackberry trees, Spirea, Queen Anne's Lace, Cottonwood,
Clover, Violet, Marigold, Dogwood, Butterfly weed, Passionflower,
Senna)
- Rotting fruit -- male butterflies
like to feed on rotting fruit
- Sunny location --butterflies
prefer sun because they must keep their body temperature between
85-100º F
- Mudholes --Males gather around
mudholes to collect minerals they need for mating
- Hibernation sites -- place
butterflies can rest on cloudy, rainy, windy days and place where
they hibernate or rest.
Other considerations:
- Try to avoid using pesticides,
these will kill your butterflies and butterfly larvae
- Use a wide variety of plants
and flower colors -- this will attract more species of butterflies
- Have a continually blooming
garden
- Provide rocks or evergreens
that absorb heat for the butterflies to rest on.
- Have your garden in a protected
area -- low wind, high light
These archived newsletters were written by
Dr. Lelia Scott Kelly. Kelly is
a Horticulture Specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension
Service. Her office is in the North Mississippi Research & Extension
Center, Verona.
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