Wildlife Watching Wednesday: Planting to Attract Butterflies

By: Tom Berg

Summer will soon come to an end, and one of the things I will miss is the butterfly garden in our back yard. It’s a small garden planted around a trellis and garden bench, and it attracts beautiful butterflies of all kinds from April through the end of September. We see tiger swallowtails, red admirals, skippers, monarchs, orange-spotted purples, spicebush swallowtails, painted ladies and many others.

Butterfly gardens are simple to grow and maintain. Just plant perennial flowers that attract butterflies, and since they come back every year it is easier than you might think. Some of the perennial flowers that are attractive to butterflies are: phlox, butterfly bush, butterfly weed, purple coneflower, anise hyssop, black-eyed susan and plenty of others. Annuals like zinnias, marigolds, petunias and impatiens also attract butterflies.

One thing to keep in mind when planning your butterfly garden is to choose plants that have overlapping blooming periods. It is important to provide a source of nectar for adult butterflies throughout the summer. A variety of different flowers also provides different blooms that are attractive to different butterfly species. Locating the butterfly garden near trees or bushes also helps to attract and hold butterflies by providing shelter from the wind.

The butterfly garden is great for butterflies, of course, but it also attracts many other important pollinators, as well. Honeybees and bumblebees will be sure to visit, and they are great for the environment. Don’t worry, if you don’t bother them they won’t bother you. At night, many species of moths will also visit your flowers and continue the pollination process.

Once your butterfly garden is complete, you can spend many pleasant days sitting on your garden bench and watching the colorful butterflies flit from one flower to the next. If you have your camera handy, you can snap some great photos, too. Hopefully most of your flowers will be perennials and they will be back next year!

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