Are you thinking about adding a butterfly garden to your landscape?
Late August and early September can be a bit boring in the flower beds. You can add some color and life to the landscape by choosing plants that bring butterflies.
Many plants that butterflies love are easy to grow if you have a sunny spot to plant them.
Water features help, too.
Once you’ve got food and water available, all you need to do is sit back and wait for the fluttering to begin.
Plants that Butterflies Love
Goldenrod (Solidago)
Butterflies love goldenrod, and so do gardeners. Goldenrod is easy to grow and blooms just when the rest of the garden is beginning to wilt in August.
Not only is it a bright spot in the landscape, but it has been called one of the most important food sources for pollinators in North America. Over 100 varieties of butterflies, moths, and their larvae feed on it.
Goldenrod is native to North America. That is always a plus because you avoid introducing a non-native plant that has a potential to become invasive.
There are many varieties of goldenrod, and many are quite tall. If you have limited space you may want to look for a cultivated variety specifically bred for the garden.
Hardy Hibiscus (Hibiscus syriacus) or Rose-of-Sharon
Yesterday, I noticed a monarch sipping nectar from our hibiscus tree (Hibiscus moscheutos) in the front yard.
This popular flowering shrub is native to Asia and blooms in colors ranging from white to pink to purple. It can grow from 8 to 10 feet tall. It blooms from late spring into early fall here in Ohio.
Not only butterflies, but bees and hummingbirds will feed off its nectar.
Whether you call this plant a tree or a shrub, hibiscus makes a statement in the landscape. It can be a vigorous grower and self-seeder.
I cut back our hibiscus trees after they flower to try to keep them in check and reduce the seedlings that germinate everywhere.
American beautyberry bush (Callicarpa americana)
Another attractive plant that provides food for caterpillars and nectar for butterflies is the American beautyberry bush (Callicarpa americana) pictured below.
This shrub not only flowers, but it produces these gorgeous berries in the fall.
Beautyberry shrubs usually grow between 3 to 5 feet tall and wide, but can grow larger in good conditions.
Beautyberries are native to North America and are attractive to butterflies and birds.
Butterfly Bushes (Buddleja davidii)
Your butterfly garden won’t seem complete without the butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii). It attracts all sorts of butterflies, including the Eastern tiger swallowtail shown above (female, black coloration) and below (male, yellow with black stripes).
Butterfly bushes come in colors from white to bright and dark purples, and even pink.
Some Reasons to Skip Butterfly Bushes
Although they are definitely butterfly magnets, butterfly bushes do have some negatives.
These herbaceous perennials do not supply food for our North American caterpillars even though they produce lots of nectar for mature butterflies.
And Butterfly bushes can get really tall, up to ten feet in some cases.
Butterfly bushes produce a lot of seed, meaning that you may spend time pulling out sprouted baby bushes that otherwise could become invasive.
The National Wildlife Federation suggests that gardeners consider planting milkweed instead because milkweed is native to North America.
All about Milkweed in Your Butterfly Garden
What Exactly Is Milkweed?
You may already know that Monarch butterflies favor milkweed. Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed, which then provides food for the hatched caterpillars.
Milkweed is the common name for the species Asclepias.
The name milkweed comes from the fact that when you break a piece of the plant, it exudes a white latex sap that looks like milk.
There are many varieties of Asclepias beyond the common Eastern milkweed with pink flowers that you find in marshes and meadows.
The bright orange plant in the photo above is a milkweed variety known as butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). Although it is in the milkweed family, it doesn’t contain the white sap.
There is some suggestion that monarch’s find this species suboptimal for egg laying. However, as you can see in the photo above, other butterflies are definitely attracted to it. Pictured is the Northern Crescent butterfly.
And butterfly weed’s bright color is another positive reason to include it in your butterfly garden.
For the Future
If you want to continue to attract and ensure the return of monarchs, you should plant milkweed for future generations.
According to the Xerces Society,
Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) are the required host plants for caterpillars of the monarch butterfly and thus play a critical role in the monarch’s life cycle. The loss of milkweed plants in the monarch’s spring and summer breeding areas across the United States is believed to be a significant factor contributing to the reduced number of monarchs recorded in overwintering sites in California and Mexico. …
In addition to monarchs, native milkweeds support a wide diversity of pollinators, including bumble bees.
To help offset the loss of monarch breeding habitat, the North American Monarch Conservation Plan (published in 2008 by the tri-national Commission for Environmental Cooperation) recommends the planting of regionally appropriate native milkweed species. However, a scarcity of milkweed seed in many regions of the United States has limited opportunities to include the plants in regional restoration efforts.
You can find milkweed seed resources and read more about the Xerces Society efforts to support monarch butterfly populations here.
Remember the Caterpillars
As you make decisions about what to plant, don’t forget that identifying the caterpillars of the butterflies you want to attract is a good idea.
I say this because I was tempted to pick the little guy in the photo below from one of my plants before realizing he was an Eastern tiger swallowtail caterpillar.
Although you may be tempted to think that wooly bear caterpillars become monarchs because of their coloring, these fuzzy looking guys actually become moths when they mature.
About Water Features
It’s true that we live on a Great Lake, so our butterflies have plenty of access to water.
But it really doesn’t take that much to support your butterfly population. A home fountain, birdbath, or shallow dish provides plenty of water.
I’ve even seen my winged friends getting a nice sip from my soaker hoses as they drip in the garden.
Just be sure to freshen any water supply as necessary to keep butterflies and other pollinators happy.
Butterflies and Rainbows
It isn’t hard to create a butterfly garden. It just takes a little decision-making and planning.
The returns far outweigh the effort.
You’ll bring movement and color to your landscape, and do your part in sustaining pollinators that are important to our ecosystems and, ultimately, our planet.
What’s good for each of us can be good for all of us.
