Butterfly Garden

 Buddleia...

commonly called butterfly bush, provides more than just lovely leaves, fast growth, and honey scented flowers: it also pretty much guarantees that you'll have many species of butterflies fluttering about your garden for weeks. From mid summer until early fall, hungry butterflies dine on the nectar provided by the tiny tubular flowers that make up the colorful buddleia blossom clusters. It's not uncommon to have dozens of flutterers on a single bush at once. Hummingbirds are attracted to these shrubs, too. 

Butterflies are very important. They carry pollen from plant to plant which plants need to make their seeds. Without seeds, plants could not reproduce and many would become extinct (gone forever!) 

But butterflies are in danger, too. They need places to live. You can help butterflies by making a home for them in your yard.

The caterpillar of a desirable butterfly such as the Mourning Cloak (Nymphalidae: Nymphalis antiopa) can easily be mistaken for one of its destructive relatives such as the gypsy moth (Lymantriidae: Lymantria dispar).

Most butterfly species, such as the Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus), lay only a few eggs at a time. This low level of insect population will not kill shrubs or trees. However, Black Swallowtail (Papilionidae: Papilio polyxenes) larvae, for example, can completely consume herbaceous plants such as dill. To avoid killing a beautiful guest, you should be sure of your identification of an insect as a pest before using any pesticide.

NECTAR PLANTS - At different stages of their lives, butterflies eat different things. The caterpillar of almost all butterflies eat various parts of plants. Each kind of butterfly (species) may prefer only a few kinds of plants or plant parts. Most butterfly adults sip flower nectar (but some eat fluids from sap flowers on trees, rotting fruits, bird or animal droppings.) Pay attention to the plants that butterflies land on in nurseries and public gardens and plant the same ones in your garden.

PROVIDE WATER - Most adult butterflies eat only liquids of different kinds to maintain their water balance and to give them energy. Butterflies sometimes have to drink fluids from wet sand or mud along streams and at the edges of dirt roads or trails. A big rock with a natural indentation makes a good drinking fountain for  butterflies. Shallow puddles are also good.

OFFER SHELTER - Butterflies do not fly at night. When it rains, they usually seek shelter in the same places they go for the night. Some butterflies hide under leaves, some crawl down under rocks, and some just sit, with their head down, on grass or branches with their wings held tightly. If it rains very hard, or if it is very windy, butterflies can become tattered or die. They prefer sunny areas because they are “cold-blooded,” and need the sun’s heat to warm their bodies before they can fly around

REDUCE THE USE OF PESTICIDES - One of the most important conservation decisions we can make is to avoid the use of broad spectrum pesticides sprayed all around the yard. Instead, use should try less harmful treatments on plants troubled with pest insects. Try using alternative control methods such as oils, soaps, and microbial insecticides such as Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). But remember that oils and soaps still kill caterpillars if sprayed directly on them and that they also will die if they feed on plants treated with a Bt formulation that is toxic to them. Maybe it is best top just spray off the insects and keep on planting mixed gardens that will attract the natural predators that will get rid of the pests for you!