Butterflies are gorgeous creatures who call to mind all the great things about summer. Who isn’t attracted to the sight of butterflies floating across the sky? You can bring butterflies into your garden or your yard with a nominal amount of labor if you’re interested.
It doesn’t require a lot of space to accomplish, nor in fact is it a lot of work. You can take just a little of your yard and turn it into a butterfly haven if you’re willing to allow some of the yard or garden to look a little wilder than you might like.
Certain kinds of plants are a necessity for your butterflies. These change, depending on the area that you live in. Lure plants for butterflies depend on the variety of butterfly. Monarchs, for instance, love milkweed plants. They require it for food and for breeding. If you’re not comfortable permitting part of your yard or garden to hold these kinds of plants, then you’re likely not going to get the butterflies that you want.
The most important part of a butterfly garden won’t be how it’s laid out, but the plants that you permit to grow there. Things like milkweed, natural plants that others consider weeds are necessary to the health and breeding of butterflies.
As you grow your butterfly garden you’re also helping to protect the world around you. A lot of the things that butterflies love, the plants and the overall environment have been removed or killed for building homes and making cities.
It’s not at all difficult to raise these plants, and they tend to grow themselves, but since many people see them as weeds, or noxious plants, they are often removed or killed. Since the butterflies like them, and require them for laying eggs and breeding, the butterfly population dwindles.
The only real requirement of any butterfly garden is an open area that has some sun, flowers, a food source for the caterpillars, and some puddles and a few rocks. The down side is that the plants that you need are things like milkweed, dandelions, nettles, and other things that you might want to put toward the back of your yard or garden.
Select the kind of butterfly that you’re interested in attracting and then research their foods and breeding areas to get the correct additions to your butterfly garden. Bear in mind the climate and area that you live in. You’re not going to attract a butterfly that is not native to your area, even if you plant what they like.
Secondary to the plants, you won’t want to do any variety of weed killing or pesticide additions. These can be damaging to the very insects that you’re trying to bring into the garden.