August 2006
Flurry of Butterflies
Leonard J. Buck Garden, Far Hills, NJ
Beautiful butterflies are making a lovely addition to the Leonard J. Buck Garden in Far Hills. Rich textures, and bright colors along the boardwalk have created an attractive haven for our native butterflies.
If you are looking to encourage butterflies to visit your home garden you need to know what kinds of flowers are most attractive to the adult, and what plants are prime food for the butterfly caterpillar.
The rosy pink flowers of Asclepias incarnata found along the boardwalk are irresistible to butterflies, and its foliage is the main food source for the Monarch caterpillar. A. incarnata, also known as swamp milkweed or butterfly weed, likes moist, sunny conditions, but can withstand average garden soil. It bears dusty pink panicles in July and then produces attractive fruit pods filled with many seeds to which fluffy, silky hairs are attached.
The Monarch caterpillar, with white with yellow and black stripes, can be found on the underside of the milkweed leaves on which it feeds. The caterpillar will eat the leaves and when it is full grown, in about 15 days, will begin its transformation into a chrysalis, its pupal stage. After two weeks, the chrysalis splits open and the adult Monarch butterfly emerges. Note: birds steer clear from the Monarch caterpillar because their milkweed diet makes them unpalatable. By growing milkweed in your garden you can watch every stage of the Monarch butterfly life cycle.
Another wonderful late summer butterfly attracting plant you will see blooming along the boardwalk is Chelone glabra, common name white turtlehead. With the flower’s shape and tint of purple, it resembles a turtle;s head. Turtlehead forms open clumps with 2 to 4-foot stalks and is usually found in wetlands and low meadows. Turtlehead attracts many butterflies including silver-spotted skipper, spicebush swallowtail, and eastern tiger swallowtail, and is also the favored larval host plant of the Baltimore, which is rare or threatened in many states.
Another available nectar source for butterflies is dominating the pond's edge, Eupatorium maculatum 'Gateway,' common name Joe Pye weed. This big and bold perennial produces bushel basket size lavender flower heads on wine color stems. The leaves are serrated and lance-shaped in whorls of 3-7. Give it moist soil, full sun and watch the butterflies flock to the plant to feed. Colorful, Joe Pye weed will attract many butterflies including; black swallowtail, tiger swallowtail and the Monarch look-alike viceroy. Other nectar producing plants along the pond edge are aster, goldenrod, and cardinal flower.
Many butterfly caterpillars like to feed on tree leaves. They can be hard to find because they feed high up in the treetops, making a shelter by folding the edges of a leaf. The tiger swallowtail caterpillar feeds on willow, cherry, tulip tree, poplar, bass and birch. The spicebush swallowtail caterpillar feeds on spicebush and sassafras plants that are found in open woods, meadows, and beside streams.
Observe butterflies at the Leonard J. Buck Garden or a nearby open space, and note the flowers they visit. Duplicate some of these plants in your garden and you will be awarded with a flurry of butterflies.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Butterflies are cold-blooded so choose the sunniest spot in your garden.
- Adult butterflies are attracted to red, orange, pink, or purple blossoms that are flat-topped with short flower tubes which allow the butterflies to reach the nectar with their proboscis.
- Butterflies need nectar throughout the adult phase of their life span, so plant for continuous bloom.
- Avoid the use of chemicals and pesticides; chemical warfare kills indiscriminately and will kill butterflies in their adult and larval phases.
- Tricia Scibilia, interpretive gardener
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