I love butterfly's and butterfly gardening. If you aren't familiar with butterfly gardening it is the art of choosing and growing flowers and plants that will attract these delicate and colorful creatures into your garden.
It's easy to design your butterfly garden or incorporate one into an exisiting flower garden. It's simply a matter of personal preference and your climate zone. Points to consider are the size of your garden and the types of flowers and plants you want to grow and also what kinds of butterflies you wish to attract.
Doing some research to learn about the specific types of butterflies that live in your area will help you select they kids of plants you'll want to plant to attract and lure them into your backyard.
Butterflies also benefit from and need water or nectar. Placing an attractive bird bath can be a focal point and will keep the butterflies above the ground and away from any cats that might enjoy chasing them and causing harm to them.
Beautiful butterfly feeders can be found in garden books or online. The feeders typically have a mesh peice that can be placed in a holder. Butterfly nectar is poured into the holder and the butterflys will enjoy landing on the feeder and dining on the nectar.
When planting your butterfly garden give some thought to how you coordinate the colors you choose for your flowerbeds. Of course, the butterflies do not care about your choice of color but you do want your garden to be a harmony of colors and textures that flow together. Butterflies are attracted to flowers that have nectar rather than pollen. Some favorites to choose from are Summer Lilac, Honeysuckle, which will also attract hummingbirds, Daisies, Milkweed, Valerian, Purple Coneflower, Butterfly Bush, Yellow Sage, Lavender and Coral Bells.
Some people find it helpful to draw and color a layout of their butterfly gardening plan to see what the finished product would look like. Keep in mind that warm colors like red and orange are flashy and showy. These colors have a greater impact against a strong green background. Cool colors such as blue and purple are soothing and toned down and would work better with a white contrast to create the look of freshness and brightness.
Planting a butterfly garden is a delightful way to spend time outside during the growing season and will provide hours of relaxing enjoyment while you make life happier for butterflys!
