Plant an Alabama Butterfly Garden
If you want to attract butterflies to your garden, you'll need flowers with lots of nectar. Any fragrant, nectar rich plant will lure butterflies. Nectar producing plants which provide the adult food are easy to grow and readily available. As long as you have an area that receives at least six hours of sun, you will lure an assortment of butterflies. But if you want to encourage butterflies to stay in your yard, they'll need a place to raise a family. Since most butterfly larvae can only digest a specific type of plant foliage, the female butterfly only lays her eggs on particular kind of plants. This plant is known as the host plant. Many host plants may already be in your yard or surrounding areas. Others are easily planted. Here is a list of caterpillar host plants and nectar flowers that will lure Alabama's rich population of butterflies.
These nectar rich flowers are especially attractive to butterflies ...
Other Tips for Growing a Great Butterfly Garden: • Avoid using insecticides or pesticides. Limit weeding and cutting back plants. You might accidentally deprive caterpillars of food, possibly remove cocoons, and destroy newly laid eggs. • Host plants are food plants and will be devoured so don't use them as the focal point of your garden. Parsley, dill, chives and butterfly weed are very popular host plants. Plant them 3 or more times during the summer to maintain a constant food supply. • Put out fruit for the butterflies. Overripe fruit is a major attractant. There are also butterfly feeders available both for fruit and nectar. • Butterflies love to drink from puddles. You can make a permanent puddle by sinking a container in the ground and filling it with sand. Keep it wet and butterflies will flock to the moisture, especially males who draw nutrients from the sand. • Include butterfly basking stones in the garden. Black stones in particular will absorb and retain the sun’s heat and create a striking visual effect. |
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Plant An Alabama Butterfly Garden
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