Butterflies are beautiful to watch fluttering about. And they are important pollinators!
If you would like to invite butterflies into your yard or onto your balcony you need to offer them the things that they need.
What do they need?
- Butterflies need sunlight. They are cold-blooded, so they use the sun to warm up their bodies. Pick a sunny spot for your garden and place a few flat stones around so the butterflies can rest while warming up.
- Butterflies need water (just like we do!). Instead of drinking from a faucet, butterflies slurp up moisture from puddles, dew, and nectar. Butterflies prefer to land on moist dirt or sand on the sides of puddles. Keep a mud puddle in your garden or fill a bucket with moist sand.
- Butterflies need shelter from wind and rain, and a place to rest at night. Planting your garden near shrubs and trees will give them the shelter they need.
What should you do?
- Plant diversity! Butterflies are attracted to purple, orange, yellow, and red flowers, but diversity is good! Try to plant a variety of species with different blooming times, colors, and heights. This will create a garden that is interesting to look at and will attract many kinds of butterflies for a longer period of time.
- Plant food for their caterpillars. To complete their lifecycles, butterflies need to lay their eggs on plants that will provide food for caterpillars. Some caterpillars can eat almost anything. Other caterpillars are picky eaters! Monarch caterpillars and milkweed are an example of this. You might also want to read more about the life of the butterfly.
- Avoid pesticides. Pesticides harm butterflies, birds, mammals, and other living things in your garden.
- Watch and wait! Enjoy watching your plants grow and change.
Remember, no butterfly garden is too small. The plants that benefit butterflies also benefit other pollinators. Watch your plants! Who comes to pay a visit? Here are some tips for watching butterflies.
Tags:
Pollinators & Plants