Why to attract butterflies in your garden?


 Butterflies are great for your garden as they are attracted to bright flowers and need to feed on nectar. When they do this their bodies collect pollen and carry it to other plants. This helps fruits, vegetables and flowers to produce new seeds. The majority of plants need pollinators like bees and butterflies to reproduce.


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. 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. Go organic

Many pesticides — even organic ones — are toxic to bees and other beneficial organisms. There's no need to use powerful poisons to protect your garden from insects and diseases. In the short term they may provide a quick knock-down to the attackers, but they also kill beneficial organisms. In the long term, you expose yourself, family, pets and wildlife to toxic chemicals, and risk disrupting the natural ecosystem that you and your garden inhabit.


An organic approach is both safer and more effective. By applying the simple principles of ecological plant protection, you can work with nature to control pests and diseases, enjoy a healthier garden and harvest and protect pollinators and other beneficial insects.


3. Leave fallen fruit on the ground

Butterflies need food to be available from the early spring through to late summer. In August, some species will feed on the sugar inside discarded fruit.


Rotting pears, apples and berries are popular. Butterflies struggle to consume anything too hard, so if you leave fruit out on the compost heap, the riper the better.


4.Choose sunny spot

Butterflies are the ultimate sun worshipers. If you've spent any time observing butterflies at all, you know they spend some of their time basking in the sunshine. Like all insects, butterflies are ectotherms, meaning they can't regulate their body temperatures internally. Instead, they rely on the sun's energy to warm their bodies so they can function. This is especially important on cooler days because butterflies can't fly when the temperatures dip below about 55 F. You'll see a butterfly perched on a rock or leaf in a sunny spot, with its wings extended, warming up its flight muscles.


5.Plant a variety of flowers

Butterflies are diverse creatures, and they require diverse sources of food. Large butterflies, like swallowtails and monarchs, prefer large, flat flowers that give them a good-sized landing area. Smaller butterflies, such as hairstreaks, coppers, and metalmarks, have shorter proboscises. They won't be able to drink from the deep nectaries of large flowers. When choosing flowers for your butterfly garden, try to pick a variety of flower shapes, colors, and sizes to meet the needs of different butterflies. Plants with clusters of smaller flowers (milkweeds, for example) will attract butterflies of all sizes.

6.Make puddles

Butterflies need to drink, but they can't do so from birdbaths or fountains. Instead, they get their water by taking up moisture from mud puddles. Butterflies also get important minerals by drinking their water from puddles. 


A complete butterfly habitat will include one or more puddling sites. Sink a dish tub or bucket in the ground, fill it with sand, and make sure to wet the sand down with your garden hose each day. If you use drip irrigation to water your garden beds, this can also provide puddling sites for butterflies.