Create a Backyard Butterfly Garden

"Butterfly"

 

 Create a Butterfly Garden

Butterflies are some of the most beautiful and interesting creatures on Earth. By planting a butterfly garden with all of the right kinds of plants and flowers that butterflies love to feed on and lay eggs on, you will certainly have a yard full of butterflies throughout the growing season. Butterfly gardens can be any size – a window box, part of your landscaped yard, or even a wild untended area on your property. 

Creating a butterfly garden should start with some serious research to learn which kinds of butterflies are native to your area. Make a list of all of the different kinds of butterflies you would like to attract, and then learn which flowers and plants they both feed on and lay eggs on. All of the plants will certainly be native to your area and therefore easy to grow with the right conditions and care. Adult butterflies will visit for a longer period if they find plants to lay their eggs on. These are called ‘Host Plants’.

Once you have done your research and know which kinds of plants you need, you should learn about the plants and flowers. What do they look like? How tall do they grow? What conditions do they thrive in? Perhaps print small pictures from the internet of each plant and flower so that you can begin to plan your butterfly garden.

Check with a local greenhouse about getting these plants and flowers. Find out which ones are annuals and which are perennials. You may want to plant the annuals in the front of the garden because they will need to be replaced each year. Perennials will come back year after year so these should be near the back of the butterfly garden and left alone to grow and thrive. If your local greenhouse cannot get you the plants you need, check in catalogs that sell bulbs or online and order them. Be sure to learn when and how to best plant them, especially if you must purchase bulbs and start the plants from scratch. 

Once you have designed and started your butterfly garden, you can be proud that you have made a habitat for butterflies in your own yard, which helps with the conservation of the many species of quickly disappearing butterflies today. You will certainly want to place your favorite outdoor furniture near so that you can enjoy all of your visitors day after day. 

 

 

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15 Thoughts to “Create a Backyard Butterfly Garden”

  1. Mario.Brando

    Love your photos.

  2. Gary33

    Great work Alan.

  3. Lovely idea to create your own butterfly area at home!

  4. Alan S. Hochman

    Even with a small backyard, it is very easy to attract butterflies. Just plant what the local butterflies eat!

  5. Thank you for stopping by my page. Love your photography. My husband is a photographer as well.
    He bought a butterfly bush a couple of days ago and planted it in our flower garden. We hope to see some pretty butterflies soon.

  6. Alan S. Hochman

    Thank you. Your butterfly bush will soon yield some lovely butterflies, I’m sure!

  7. Hi Alan, what absolutely stunning photographs on your site. And a big hello from Kent – the garden of England – and home to a fair few butterflies in my just a little bit scruffy garden (the best kind I think!)

  8. Alan S. Hochman

    Thank you very much Kirsty. I checked out your site and am very glad to see the wonders of nature being explained to children. Keep up the excellent work.
    btw My boss is from Maidstone, Kent.. small world! lol

  9. Henry.T

    Beautiful photo Alan

  10. RobertoS25

    Great photo. Do you only photograph in Florida?

  11. Rita.Waller

    Love your photography.

  12. Ed

    Great post and wonderful photos. The wonderful thing about the Butterfly Bush (or Buddlia) is that its seeds spread over a very wide distance. Perhaps your visitors would like to check out this blog post which describes how the Butterfly Bush is blooming over an entire river valley in Bray Co. Wicklow, Ireland at the moment.
    http://diamondvalley.ie/wordpress/brays-valley-of-diamonds-in-bloom/

  13. Sandy.Wolfstein

    Awesome photography

  14. Bob Stewart

    Nice photo and suggestion. I have a planting of milkweed and butterfly weed. It’s great to sit nearby when they are in flower and watch the butterflies and other insects they attract. I enjoy all your great photos.

  15. Alan S. Hochman

    Hi Bob,
    Thank you for the compliment. I had grown milkweed and butterfly weed in my backyard, but the flower pods would ripen and burst. The next thing I know, my back yard was loaded with them!

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Alan S Hochman Photography