Have you ever considered having a butterfly garden in your home? Butterflies are one of the most beautiful insects in the world. Therefore, having a butterfly garden screams beauty.
Butterflies add more than beauty to your home. Therefore, before starting a butterfly garden, first, familiarize yourself with butterflies’ role in the environment.
If you are having trouble figuring out how to charm butterflies in your garden, this article will guide you on how to do so. You’ll also learn about the best blooms to plant to provide nectar.
Why Are Butterflies Important?
Today, most people are open to the idea of having butterfly gardens in their backyards. This is due to the role butterflies play in the environment. Below are some of the fantastic reasons why butterflies are essential.
Pollination
Just like bees, butterflies are excellent pollinators. In most cases, butterflies are drawn to your garden by bright flowers and in search of nectar to feed.
When they land on the plants in your garden, their bodies collect pollen grains, and by hopping from one plant to another, butterflies aid pollination, enabling the plants to reproduce.
Helps to Eliminate Pests
If you have ever had a kitchen garden, you can relate to the frustrations of waking one day to your vegetables being invested by pests such as aphids. To control the pests, most people result in purchasing pesticides.
However, in most cases, pesticides do more harm than good. For instance, they contaminate the soil and water, posing a danger to host animals in these areas, such as fish, butterflies, and birds that feed on the vegetation. Moreover, consuming pesticides that remain on the vegetables exposes you to illnesses such as cancer.
This is why you should have a butterfly garden in your home, as they can help control some of the pests that invade your vegetables by feeding on them. Butterflies, therefore, are an effective alternative to pesticides.
Butterflies are Indicators of a Healthy Environment
Butterflies are sensitive to toxic environments and climate changes. When there is an unfavorable ecological change, the butterfly population begins to fade.
For this reason, scientists observe butterflies to understand how healthy the environment is. A reduced butterfly population in an area is an indication that something is amiss and vice versa is accurate. The information gathered can help scientists advise on the best course of action to conserve a healthy environment.
How to Attract Butterflies
The following are practical tips to help you charm butterflies into your backyard.
Avoid Pesticides
As earlier established, pesticides can be harmful to the ecosystem. Some pesticides kill butterflies, for example, Sevin and Malathion, to mention a few. Therefore, if you are going to harbor butterflies in your backyard, you need to ditch these pesticides.
To control stubborn pests in your home, you should arm yourself with knowledge and information about safe pest control methods. Alternatively, create a butterfly garden first. As seen earlier, butterflies can help control pests around your home.
Choose a Sunny Site
Butterflies are endotherms; thus, they cannot internally regulate their body temperatures. The sun, therefore, comes in handy in warming them up. If you are keen, you will observe that butterflies love to bask on top of flowers or rock surfaces to expose themselves to enough sunlight.
So, if you plan to have a butterfly habitat in your home, you should be keen on the area that provides a good basking site. However, do not only consider the summer seasons. Instead, ensure that the butterfly garden is in a location that receives sufficient warmth all seasons round.
Make a Shelter
There is always a surge of butterflies during the summer.
To ensure that your butterfly garden does not face extinction during the cold season, you should create a shelter where the butterflies can hideout. For instance, you could plant many shrubs and trees around your garden.
Provide food
The only reason butterflies will gather in your garden is if there is an adequate supply of food. Therefore, ensure that you have nectar plants around your garden. Plants that bloom all year round should be top of your list.
Which Are the Best Blooms for the Butterfly Habitat?
Butterflies are likely to linger longer in your garden if there is an endless source of nectar. Therefore, you should choose plants that have bright blooms. Below are some of the best flowers for your garden;
1. Butterfly Bush
Butterfly Bush has long-lasting blooms all through summer and into the falls. One of the reasons you cannot fail to include butterfly bushes in your garden is that they cover all butterfly development stages; therefore, you are sure that your butterflies will thrive.
Additionally, they have bright colors and are attractive to pollinators, including bees, aiding plant reproduction.
2. Coneflowers
Coneflowers are a great addition to your butterfly garden because they are drought resistant and thrive in summer. They are daisy-like perennial blooms that are a perfect source of nectar for butterflies. Moreover, their roots can be dried and used in herbal medicine and skincare products.
3. Hollyhocks
You should include hollyhocks in your butterfly garden. The reason? Because hollyhock bloomers can support the butterfly’s life cycle.
They are also available in various colors, making them a darling to butterflies. Hollyhocks grow between 6 and 8 feet tall.
4. Lupine
Lupines are a butterfly garden favorite. This is because they come in different sizes and colors. Therefore, you have a wide variety to choose from. Lupines develop large blooms that help attract butterflies and provide nectar.
5. Phlox
Phlox are available in different colors, including white and purple. They are the perfect fit for your butterfly garden thanks to their abundant blooms and ability to attract butterflies and other pollinators, including bees.
Summary
It’s everyone’s responsibility to conserve the environment, and providing a habitat for butterflies is one way of doing so. Besides, butterflies play a vital role in the environment because they are great pollinators. Therefore, familiarize yourself with how to attract butterflies and create a butterfly garden today.
Tickled Tails 