Introduction
I’m here to talk about butterflies, their survival, and how you can keep a butterfly garden alive.
Over the years, I’ve built up quite the butterfly garden. It’s been a labor of love that involves rearing caterpillars as well as raising butterflies in my little apartment. During the spring and summer seasons, I enjoy watching swarms of these beautiful creatures fly around my home. The summer is especially fun because I get to see my caterpillars crawl away into chrysalises, which then hatch into stunning butterflies with exciting new colors and patterns just like they used to do back in nature! It’s truly magical to watch that happen right in front of me!
Butterflies need various things to survive: plants for food and habitat, water for drinking (they don’t have any), and places to lay their eggs. But it doesn’t end there! Butterflies also need flowers for nectar, which is a very special part of their diet that helps them make a variety of different foods tailored specifically towards developing larvae that will eventually become full-grown butterflies.
In order for me to create everything these animals need in order to thrive (both inside my home as well as outside), I had to start from scratch. And when you’re creating from scratch there are certain… techniques… you should be aware of before starting your butterfly garden project:
Create a butterfly garden.
Butterfly gardens are made for butterflies. They should be planted in a sunny spot, and the plants should be colorful and fragrant. Butterflies like to land on these plants to collect pollen from the flowers or sip nectar from the blooms.
The garden should also have water, as butterflies need this to survive. The water source can come from a birdbath or fountain, but it’s best if there is also a shallow pool or pond where butterflies can drink when they aren’t flying around looking for food.
Your butterfly garden should have something for sheltering the insects during bad weather like storms and cold nights in wintertime—this could be anything from trees and shrubs to a resting box constructed specifically for insects such as butterflies (called an “abode”).
Create a welcoming environment.
Whether you’re a beginning gardener or a seasoned pro, it’s important to understand which plants attract butterflies. If you have decided to make your own butterfly garden, keep in mind that not all flowers are suitable for attracting butterflies. Most plants that attract hummingbirds will also attract the butterflies and other pollinating insects as well.
When selecting your plants, consider what kind of environment you want to create for your visitors: do you want them to stick around for awhile? Or would it be better if they visited just long enough to get a quick bite and then moved on?
Create a safe place for butterflies to lay their eggs and for caterpillars to grow.
A butterfly garden can be the source of many memories, but it’s important to make sure that your butterflies are happy and healthy. The most important thing you need to do is create a safe place for them to lay their eggs and for caterpillars to grow.
Your first concern should be providing enough food for your caterpillars. You can buy special butterfly food at most gardening stores, but you may find that some varieties of wildflowers will provide enough nectar on their own. If this is the case, make sure that whatever plants you choose have plenty of flowers in bloom throughout the season so there will always be something available for the butterflies when they arrive. The second concern is space: Caterpillars need an area where they can get away from predators while they’re eating or resting up before molting into their chrysalis stage (when they turn into butterflies). It’s best if this area has some sort of shelter like rocks or logs where these insects can hide safely until they mature into adults!
Lastly, give them access to water so that thirst doesn’t become an issue either! If possible try not only giving them fresh drinking water daily but also adding moisture back into soil through mulching or watering from below using drip irrigation systems.”
Install water for the butterflies.
Because butterflies are attracted to water, you will want to install some sort of water source in your butterfly garden. This can be as simple as a shallow container of water for the butterflies to drink from, or it could be something like a puddle or rain barrel. Butterflies also like dew on leaves early in their lifecycle, so you may want to leave out some plants that will allow them access this type of drinking source.
Grow the right plants.
There are several plants that butterflies love to lay their eggs on. The best ones to grow if your goal is to attract and raise caterpillars are milkweed, passion flower, butterfly bush, black-eyed Susan and goldenrod. Butterflies also love dill, nasturtiums, cosmos and bachelor’s button. To help keep the butterflies coming back year after year you should plant an annual garden of different species of these flowers that will bloom throughout the growing season. If you have a limited amount of space then just make sure to include one type each from this list (milkweed or passion flower) as they tend to be most popular with different groups of butterflies (monarchs vs monarchs vs swallowtails).
To attract adult butterflies you’ll want to include many different types within your perennial garden so there will always be something blooming at any given time during all four seasons; this includes annuals such as marigolds & zinnias which will bloom all summer long along with perennials including oxeye daisies which bloom in springtime followed by later blooms from phloxes & sedums through fall foliage interest until winter when early bulbs begin showing up again giving us two color cycles per season instead just one cycle for perennials alone!
If you follow these steps you can ensure that your butterfly garden stays healthy and beautiful, and you’ll get to watch butterflies all season long!
- Choose the right plants
- Make sure there are enough plants to feed the caterpillars
- Make sure the plants are in the right place
- Make sure the plants are in the right condition
- Make sure they’re of the right size
Conclusion
If you follow these steps, you can ensure that your butterfly garden stays healthy and beautiful, and you’ll get to watch butterflies all season long!