Greetings and salutations Hickory Hollow followers,
It’s butterfly season!
Brightly colored butterflies can be a welcome addition to your wildlife garden, not only because of their beauty, but also because of their usefulness in pollinating flowers. You can find the plants you need here at Hickory Hollow nursery and have fun while you are looking for them.
Here are a few things you need to know to create the butterfly garden you want.
Attracting butterflies involves incorporating plants that serve the needs of all life stages of the butterfly. The insects need places to lay eggs, food plants for their larvae (caterpillars), as well as places to form chrysalides and nectar (food) sources for adults.
Plants that attract butterflies:
- Bee balm.
- Alyssum
- Calendula.
- Cosmos.
- Daylily.
- Delphinium.
- Dianthus
- Fennel
- Globe thistle
- Goldenrod
- Hollyhock
- Lavender
- Liatris
- Marigold
- Musk mallow
- Nasturtium
- Oregano
- Phlox
- Coneflower
- Queen Anne’s lace
- Sage
- Scabiosa
- Shasta daisy
- Stonecrop
- Verbena
- Yarrow
- Zinnia
1) Plant nectar- and pollen-rich flowers
The most important step you can take is to plant a pollinator-friendly garden. Choose nectar and pollen-rich plants like wildflowers and old-fashioned varieties of flowers (see above list). A succession of blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs is best so nectar and pollen will be available throughout the growing season. Also, include plants like dill, fennel and milkweed that butterfly larvae feed on.
2) Provide shelter
Butterflies, bees and other pollinators need shelter to hide from predators, get out of the elements and rear their young. Let a hedgerow or part of your lawn grow wild for ground-nesting bees. Let a pile of grass cuttings or a log decompose in a sunny place on the ground. Or, allow a dead tree to stand to create nooks for butterflies and solitary bees.
3) Provide food and water
A pollinator garden will provide pollen and nectar. Consider adding special feeders to help attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
Bees, birds and butterflies also all need water. Install a water garden, a birdbath or a catch basin for rain. Butterflies are attracted to muddy puddles which they will flock to for salts and nutrients as well as water.
Plants that attract butterfly larvae (caterpillars)
- Borage
- Fennel
- Grasses
- Hollyhocks
- Lupine
- Milkweed
- Nettle
- Thistle
- Willow
