How to Make An Absolutely Stunning Butterfly Garden This Spring
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A butterfly garden is a flowering patch of plants that support the life cycle of a butterfly from the egg stage to the fluttering adult stage. It can be very rewarding to cultivate a sunny patch of flowers each year to invite these beautiful insects to visit your backyard, but it does take a bit of research and a bit of patience.
But if you’re willing to do the work, you can easily create a beautiful sunny patch of flowers and plants that any butterfly will be happy to flock to. Key pollinators like butterflies and bees are essential for pollinating plants and creating healthy ecosystems, so creating spaces for them to thrive is a great environmental win as well.
So let’s start with some research.
Research Native Butterfly Species & Flowers
For this task, you just need to head over to Google. If you haven’t already, you’ll want to gain an idea of what type of flowers are likely to grow with minimal effort in your garden. Depending on where you live climate-wise, you’ll want to pick flowers that suit your geographical region and soil type. There’s no point in planting a species of flower that grows in the tropics if you live further north, for example.
You can also pop by a local plant nursery as they may have some information for you about what types of plants work well with your local area. They might also have some tips that are unique to your region of the world.
You also want to spend a little time learning about the butterfly species that are likely to frequent your garden, as there may be particular colors that attract your local butterflies and you’ll want to know this so you can ensure at least some of your flowers are that attractive color for them.
Check for Invasive Species
Most importantly, you don’t want to plant anything that is classed as invasive. For example, my local area has a council that maintains a list of invasive plant species (and animals too).
To check your own area, simply google search for “Invasive species” + your town. This should direct you to the nearest society that helps track plants/animals. You want to try to keep the information as local as possible. For example, my province of British Columbia is around 925,000 square kilometers (not including water) and has a wide range of climate areas.
The very last thing you want is to harm your local ecosystem by introducing something that will spread and usurp the local plant life!
Plan Your Garden
There are five key elements you’ll want to consider in your butterfly garden.
Plants
There are two types of plants that you want to consider bringing in. The flowers that produce nectar, of course, but you may also wish to have host plants that will allow caterpillars to eat and grow as well (think leafy and green).
Water
Like every living being, butterflies need water as well as their nectar. A shallow dish with rocks or pebbles in it is a great addition to allow butterflies to rest and water at the same time. This is also helpful for attracting another power pollinator, the bee, as well.
Sunlight & Shelter
Butterflies are cold blooded, so sunshine warms them up, but you also want some tall grasses and shrubs where they can hide from extreme temperatures and predators.
Varied Plant Heights
Adding a bit of variety like taller flowers and smaller flowers can attract different species to your garden. Different sized flowers will provide ample options for butterflies to frequent and the taller plants can help create natural shelter for the insects.
Lay Off The Pesticides
If you want to create a butterfly oasis in your garden, the pesticides need to stay away.
Set Up Your Garden
When setting up a new garden, I like to examine the space that the garden will occupy. You’ll want to consider getting higher quality soil if necessary, perhaps setting up some stone barriers to block the garden from the rest of your outdoor space.
Sometimes it’s helpful to do a little sketch as well, I find it puts the idea in my head into something more visual.
Once you have an idea on where the plants are going, you simply need to decide if you want to plant seeds or visit your local plant nursery and purchase some seedlings. You can do this early, just be mindful of any overnight temperatures and keep those seedlings covered up or inside until it’s warm enough for them to thrive!
Enjoy Your Butterfly Garden!
The key to a successful butterfly garden is to spend some time learning what your local butterflies tend to enjoy seeking out. It’s also important to understand the life cycle of the butterflies native to your region of the world, so that you can support their growth from egg to full blown adult.
One final tip is to avoid cleaning up your garden before spring, some species of butterfly will hibernate in winter rather than migrate. So always wait until spring to tidy up your garden from the previous year to avoid throwing away a hibernating pollinator.
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Until next time, stay crafty!!
