Who doesn't love to have butterflies in the garden? Those marvellous vibrantly coloured insects with their fragile wings are a delight to watch. However, you need to be careful if you have cats or puppies as they just love to chase them and unfortunately, they often catch and kill them.
To attract butterflies you need to choose plants for butterflies, not necessarily plants for you. Hopefully you both like the same varieties, but butterflies are only attracted to nectar rich flowers and not all varieties of butterflies are attracted to the same plants. You also need to provide plants to support the butterfly throughout its lifecycle.
Butterflies do recognise colour, so large plantings of the same of the same flowers that attract butterflies will work best. Some butterflies are attracted to weeds so if you have a meadow or some uncultivated part of your garden, that might be suitable.
Some common plants that attract butterflies are of course Buddleia (Butterfly Bush) as well as Honeysuckle, Vibernum, Lilac, Lavender, Lantana, Azalea, Cornflower, Lupin, Verbena, Violet, Snapdragon and Hollyhock. Herbs too, such as Mint, Sage, Parsley and Oregano attract butterflies. This list is by no means exhaustive, just includes those plants which most people will recognise - there are dozens more so research is necessary to find out which plants attract your local butterfly population.
Most people probably don't really like the idea of encouraging caterpillars but the butterfly needs to be supported through its larvae stage as well. While larvae eat a huge amount very quickly, they only do so for a very short time so damage to plants is minimal.
It's not only plants that attract butterflies but water too. A birdbath or some other raised bowl would be ideal, preferably out of easy reach of cats, dogs and children.
Another factor for butterflies in the garden is sunlight as sun loving flowers attract more butterflies. However, butterflies also need shade, not only from the sun but from wind and rain as well.
One last word of warning if you want butterflies in the garden and that is go easy on the pesticides as butterflies are easily killed by them. Try a dilute solution of washing up liquid and removing infected foliage if you have trouble with plant pests and diseases.
See
All articles From Author
Liz Canham is a keen gardener who has exchanged the relative ease of gardening in Southern England for the trials of gardening on the Costa Blanca in Spain, where her garden is at a 45% angle on the side of a mountain. To take advantage of her experience visit her website, Gardening for All and get some great gardening tips.
Article Source : http://www.articlecontentking.com
Word
Count Appx. :
389 |
Article Views 524
Published 15-04-2010
Related articles
Growing Melons in your Greenhouse or Conservatory
By: Phil Rogers | 02-07-2009
Many people who live in a temperate climate often react with surprise that melons can be grown successfully in their country. However, anyone who has grown cucumbers in their greenhouse could also grow melons. The two plants are from the same family;
(read entire article)
Feeding Birds in the Garden
By: Liz Canham | 10-01-2012
Feeding birds in the garden is particularly important from when the first ground frosts start. When the earth becomes frozen, birds can't dig for worms and grubs and even berries may be hard to come by. However, when feeding birds in the winter, the (read entire article)
Growing Grapes in Temperate Climates
By: Phil Rogers | 06-07-2009
Growing grapes is not restricted to hot climates. They have been grown in the United Kingdom for 2000 years. They will grow outdoors in most parts of the UK, especially in the south, and equally well in a greenhouse. Although it takes a little effort
(read entire article)
Grow Your Own Potatoes in a Small Space
By: Phil Rogers | 07-06-2009
Many people would like to grow their own fruit and vegetables but believe that not having a big garden prevents them from doing so. There are many ways of growing fruit and vegetables in a small space - even on a balcony. This article describes how t
(read entire article)
Disease Resistant Tomatoes - How to Identify Them
By: Liz Canham | 18-06-2009
Growing tomatoes isn't too difficult but they can be prone to disease. Don't despair though, as there are plenty of disease resistant varieties available but that in itself leads to another problem which is how to identify them.
(read entire article)
How To Plant An Onion!
By: Bob Alexander | 16-03-2010
Like good wines, onions are categorized by colors; red, white and yellow, with hybrids of each category available through seed catalogs and seed stores. Garlic is now the number one Hollywood method of Vampire removal.
(read entire article)
Biting Pests of Hawaii - Kilaueapest
By: John Speed | 06-01-2010
Pests are responsible for the more common injuries in Hawaii and Oahu. Honolulu pest control offers extensive services to cover all aspects of pest control in Hawaii and Oahu
(read entire article)
Ways to Cope With Giant Hogweed
By: Jo Alelsto | 12-03-2009
Giant hogweeds are extremely poisonous to humans. It can bring about loss of sight and skin inflammation. So it is essential to keep at bay from this plant as much as you can. If ever you do come across it and have to wipe out this invasive weed the
(read entire article)
Movement of Japanese Knotweed Material
By: Paul pool | 12-11-2008
It is likely that the burial of Japanese knotweed or contaminated soil imported from another site for the treatment or burial of the invasive weed or in order to meet a required Japanese knotweed burial depth, will present an increased risk of spreadin
(read entire article)
