Creating a Butterfly Garden

Who doesn’t enjoy watching a butterfly flutter from plant to plant? The young and young at heart, alike, marvel at these fanciful creatures and their kaleidoscope of colors. You can enjoy them even more by encouraging them to visit your yard. Here are five easy steps you can follow that are sure to lure butterflies to your backyard haven, as well as a few plants to create a butterfly garden that your little ones can enjoy! A great Saturday afternoon project that will bring months of enjoyment!

To attract butterflies to your yard, and more importantly to see their entire life cycle, it is important to follow these simple guidelines:

1. Full Sun. Your garden must be in full sun, as butterflies need the sun to warm their bodies. It is also important to note that many of the plants that attract butterflies require full sun anyway. If space permits, plant several plants to make your yard more identifiable/visible to butterflies (and it will encourage them stay longer!).

2. Nectar Plants. Flowering plants produce the highest levels of nectar, and are a great food source for butterflies. Bright colored flowers usually work best. Butterflies seem to prefer red, yellow, dark pink, orange and purple flowers. Be sure to incorporate fragrant plants, too. The antennae of a butterfly are able to detect scent.

3. Host Plants. This is an important element of a butterfly garden that is often overlooked. While most of us plant the colorful, flowering plants that butterflies enjoy, it is as equally important to provide host plants for the butterflies to lay their eggs on; these plants later become a food source for the caterpillars. By providing host plants, you get to enjoy the life cycle of the butterfly. Those few “chewed” dill plants will be well worth it!

4. Absolutely No Pesticides! To put it simply, pesticides not only kill the “bad” insects, they kill the “good” insects, too. Pesticides are detrimental to the delicate caterpillars and butterflies, as well as other beneficial insects, such as ladybugs and praying mantis.

5. Water Source. It is important for butterflies to have a source of water, too, so consider incorporating this element into your butterfly garden. A water source can be something as simple as a shallow bowl of water or a nearby bird bath, to something more elaborate, such as a water feature.


Materials Needed
- Plants
- Planting Mix to incorporate into soil
- Fertilizer, such as Osmocote
- Garden Spade


Plant Selection
While there are a multitude of plants that will attract butterflies, here we have kept it simple and have selected only a few (both nectar and host plants) that you can plant with your little ones. These five great plants are sure to make your yard the “flutter of activity” this summer! Enjoy!

- Lantana
- Pentas
- Verbena
- Dwarf Heliotrope
- Dill (host plant)


Let’s Get Started
After you have purchased your plants, you need to break up the soil where you are going to plant your butterfly garden. It is best to remove any grass before working your soil. Once you have broken the soil, incorporate planting mix to help aerate your soil and make the living conditions more suited for plants. Apply the specified amount of fertilizer for your bedding area, incorporating it into the soil mixture. Tease the roots of all of your plants and plant them in the following fashion:

Back of Bed: Pentas
In Front of Pentas: Lantana, plant in front of pentas, slightly to the left and right, so pentas are more centered.
In Front of Lantana: Dwarf Heliotrope, plant in a row in front of lantana.
Front of Bed: Verbena gets planted in the very front, as it spreads.
At Each End, Near Back: Dill, plant one at each end somewhat near the back so they anchor the bed.


>>More Plant Ideas

>>Butterfly Quiz

Happy Butterfly Watching!
Heather W.
Fairview Greenhouses & Garden Center