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Create a Butterfly Garden

Having a beautiful backyard to enjoy and relax in isn't just about plants, flowers and nice grass. For me, it includes birds, butterflies, dragonflies and even bats.a necessary part of our eco system.

Watching birds bathing and bats flitting about at night are great fun, but it is the Butterflies that are truly spectacular. There are hundreds of varieties of Butterflies, each unique unto itself.

Butterflies are one of nature's most beautiful and delicate creatures. Creating a habitat for them will bring a variety of Butterflies to your yard for your viewing pleasure and it creates a safe haven for them to breed. There is nothing more enjoyable than watching a dozen Butterflies feeding on a single Lavender plant or rose bush. Butterflies are an essential part of our pollination system as well. Without butterflies and bees there would be no flowers.

Incorporating plants into your landscape that Butterflies are attracted to is easy to do.

• There are many types of shrubs and trees that Butterflies like, and even more perennials.

• When planting perennials in your garden for Butterflies to enjoy, plant them in groupings or clusters. Butterflies will be drawn to a large show of flowers more easily than just one or two plants.

• Butterflies also like a rock or two out in the sun for them to warm their wings before flying in the early morning hours.

• They also are attracted to damp areas of the garden where they can suck fluid and salts from the soil.

• Shrubs and Butterfly Houses will protect them from wind and predators (mainly birds). By placing a Butterfly house in the center of a group of flowering perennials, Butterflies will be more likely to find the house and use it.

• Minimize the amount of chemical insecticides and herbicides you use, as these delicate creatures are very susceptible to their residue. Yet another reason to go organic!

• Here is a listing of plants Butterflies are attracted to:

Shrubs/Trees:

Abelia
Buddleia (Butterfly Bush)
Blueberry
Hawthorne
Mock Orange
Pear
Plum
Privet
Redbud
Rose of Sharon
Spiraea
Summersweet (Clethra)
Viburnum

• All of these shrubs/trees come in numerous varieties. They flower at different times of the season. Plant an assortment of these to get the longest flowering season a fabulous array of color and the most butterflies to your yard.

Perennials:

Althea
Ajuga
Asclepsias (Butterfly weed)
Aster
Centaurea
Coneflower
Coreopsis
Lantana
Lobelia (Cardinal Flower)
Mint
Monarda (Bee Balm)
Phlox
Rudbeckia (Black eyed Susan)
Sedum
Shasta Daisy
Verbena
Yarrow
Perennials are a great addition to the garden. There are many varieties, sizes and colors as there are types of butterfles. You can choose an assortment of perennials so that you have color from early spring to the first frost. Perennials grow and spread every year and are mostly care free plants once established. Some butterflies are attracted to specific plants. if you are trying to attract a particular butterfly, do some research as to which plants are their favorite.

Planting some of these varieties of shrubs and flowers in your yard will enhance its beauty, bring lots of Butterflies to your yard and give you a great reason to want to stay home.

About the Author

This article may be reproduced and/or distributed. This article was written by Vera Pappas, Owner of
GreenNationGardens.com
, retailer of green living products for the home and garden.

Bee Balm Bumble Bee Buffet

Flowering Perennial Plants to grow in your Garden from A is for Aster to Z is for Zantedeschia

A is for Aster, which has daisy like flowers in colors from red to pink to purple to white

B is for Balloon Flower, or Platycodon grandiflorous, which have blue or white flowers shaped like small balloons.

C is for Chrysanthemums, also called mums, which are often the last flowers blooming in the autumn garden.

D is for Dahlia, which grow from tubers and can have huge flowers in a rainbow of colors.

E is for Echinacea, or Coneflower, which are a favorite of bees and herbalists alike.

F is for Flowers, plants with beautiful flowers is usually the goal of a perennial gardener.

G is for Geranium, the sturdy pink flowers that have long been a favorite choice for low maintenance gardens.

H is for Hemerocalis, or Daylilies, which are the dependable cornerstones of many perennial gardens.

I is for Iris, which is a huge genus of flowering perennials with graceful blooms each having three drooping sepals and three upright petals.

J is for Japanese iris, which is a part of the Iris genus with huge flowers that often do well in damp conditions.

K is for Kniphofia, or red hot pokers, with flowers on upright stalks in red, orange, and yellow.

L is for Liatris, with bright pink or white spikes of flowers that is both easy to grow and a favorite of bees and other flying nectar seekers.

M is for Monarda, or bee balm, which has red to pink blooms and is a favorite of bees and butterflies alike.

N is for Nepeta, or Catmint, which has abundant small blue flowers and is a favorite of felines and humans alike.

O is for Oriental Poppy, or Papaver orientale, which started as the classic large red poppy but which has been bred to include pinks and whites.

P is for Peony, which have giant bulbous flowers in white, pink, and red and which often attract ants to the nectar on their flower buds.

Q is for Quality, as in always purchase high quality plants to have a healthy garden.

R is for Rudbeckia, which are several species of large daisy like flowers that include Rudbeckia hirta or black eyed Susan.

S is for Stokesia, or Cornflower aster, with big fringed daisy like flowers in pinks and purples.

T is for Tickseed, or Coreopsis, is a genus of perennials that usually have abundant cheerful little yellow flowers.

U is for Underground, as in a perennial plant has root underground.

V is for Variegation, which are white or yellow markings on Green Leaves, and many perennials have.

W is for Waldsteinia, which is a delicate little ground cover with yellow flowers.

X is for X, as in cross, where two perennials are bred together in hope of creating an even better plant.

Y is for Years, as in perennial flowers in your garden can bloom year after year looking better each season.

Z is for Zantedeschia, or calla lilies, which have large tropical looking flowers in whites, pinks and yellows.

See more resources for buying and growing Flowering Perennial Plants with listings of local garden centers and specialty mail order nurseries at http://www.GardeningWithLarry.com.

About the Author

Larry Truett is a freelance PHP and MySQL programmer living in the San Carlos neighborhood of San Diego with his wife and their 3 cats. He enjoys hiking, reading, gardening, watching too much television, and other nerdy activites.

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