|
How To Create a Butterfly Garden
Attracting Butterflies to Your
Garden, Nectar Preferences Different species of butterflies have different preferences of nectar, in both colors and tastes. A wide variety of food plants will give the greatest diversity of visitors. Try staggering wild and cultivated plants, as well as blooming times of the day and year. Groups of the same plants will be easier for butterflies to see than singly planted flowers. Some varieties of flowers will be attractive to many species of butterflies include:
Other Attractants Another way to attract adult butterflies to your yard is to offer places (food plants) for females to lay their eggs. Some females are pickier about which host to lay their eggs on than others. A few specific examples of butterflies and their host plants are listed at the end of this fact sheet. If caterpillars are eating excessive foliage from a prominent or desirable part of a plant, try moving them (with gloves on if they're hairy) to the backside or another less noticeable portion of the plant. All insects are cold-blooded and cannot internally regulate their body temperature. Butterflies will readily bask in the sun when it is warm out, but few are seen on cloudy days. It is a good idea to leave open areas in a yard for butterflies to sun themselves, as well as partly shady areas like trees or shrubs, so they can hide when it's cloudy or cool off if it is very hot. Butterflies also like puddles. Males of several species congregate at small rain pools, forming puddle clubs. Permanent puddles are very easy to make by burying a bucket to the rim, filling it with gravel or sand, and then pouring in liquids such as stale beer, sweet drinks or water. Overripe fruit, allowed to sit for a few days is a very attractive substance (to them!) as well. Butterfly gardens are a great source for your own enjoyment, photo opportunities, or an outlet for artistic talent. These gardens can also be extended to interest youth in nature, by providing a small window of native inhabitants of the local environment. On a final note, it's important to conserve butterflies when possible since their habitat is constantly diminishing due to the increasing needs and consequent development of roads and housing. From an
article by Stephanie Bailey, Extension Specialist Make A Butterfly House Making a butterfly house that is safe for the butterflies can be both easy and inexpensive. All you need are the following materials:
Directions for making your butterfly house: 1. Fold your bridal netting into thirds as shown to make a rectangle. 2. Tie one end of your netting closed using a short piece (6 inches or so) of string or ribbon. Be sure to tie the knot securely! If this knot comes loose, you will lose your butterflies! 3. Tie the other open end with the longer piece of string. With the loose ends of this string, tie a loop from which you could hang your butterfly house. 4. Your tube of bridal netting should now be securely tied on both ends, and the only opening into this tube of netting is between the overlapped ends of the netting. 5. Place the circle of cardboard in the bottom of the hanging netting by slipping it in between overlapping layers of netting. Lay the cardboard circle down so that the diameter of the cardboard circle will be parallel to the floor and ceiling when hung. This should both open up the tube of netting and tighten the overlapping layers of netting. 6. Place the second circle of cardboard in the end of the netting from which the house will hang. Secure it with a few spots of hot glue to the netting above the cardboard. 7. Place an old branch in the butterfly house, which will give your butterfly a place to perch. 8. Hang the butterfly house from a hook in your ceiling. 9. Put butterflies into the cage by carefully slipping them between the overlapping sections of netting. Alternatively, hang pupae in the cage so they will emerge inside it. This is easier and safer (for the butterfly) than moving an adult butterfly. How
to keep a butterfly in
To make an easy butterfly feeder, you will need a dish with sloping sides or a rim, something to suspend the dish with, and a few pieces of overripe fruit. You can suspend the dish with twine, flower pot hangers, or fishing line. Position the plate so that you can view it from your porch or yard, then sit back and enjoy watching the butterflies probe the tasty treats. Careful, though, the same fruit that attracts butterflies may also attract wasps or other unpleasant creatures. If that happens, you may have to move your feeder to another location, far enough away from yourself so as to avoid stings. Here are a few fruits that will tempt the butterflies: brown bananas, peaches, overripe apples, watermelon, orange juice, berries. This is a great way to use up fruit that your family won't eat, and or that has gotten too ripe to cook. Swallowtails and Nymphalids are most likely to be attracted to the spoiled fruit, but other species of butterflies may well enjoy visiting your feeder as well. Articles from Butterflyschool.org and other internet resources Attracting
fairies to your garden |