Dress up Your Garden with Butterflies

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August 2010

Dress up Your Garden with Butterflies

Leonard J. Buck Garden, Far Hills, New Jersey

Of all the insects, none elicit pleasure and curiosity more readily than butterflies.

They are a uniquely watchable type of wildlife and over the years butterfly watching has steadily increased in popularity. We watch these beautiful creatures flit from flower to flower with a seemingly aimless, carefree flight pattern, giving the impression that they have no idea as to what they are doing.

But, nothing could be further from the truth. Butterflies are very purposeful and stay busy. They spend most of their time searching for food, but their primary goal is to mate and reproduce ensuring the survival of the species.

Almost anyone can encourage butterflies to make frequent visits to their home garden. You need to know and understand their life cycle, provide them with the appropriate food and drink, and offer them shelter from the elements and predators.

Applying these guidelines you can turn your garden into a haven that butterflies will find irresistible.

The Life Cycle
The life cycle of a butterfly (and moth for that matter) is a remarkable series of changes.

The story begins with the male finding a female of the same species among all the butterflies flying at that time.

The female is mostly preoccupied with finding a particular plant on which to lay her eggs. She uses her sense of taste to recognize the plant species, or groups of species, which her young will need to feed on during the larval or caterpillar stage.

Once the caterpillar hatches it will begin eating the host plant at an enormous rate and grow at an amazing speed. The caterpillar stage is the only stage of butterfly development where the organism grows. It will grow from the size of a tiny egg to the proper size for the adult.

During this time they need to be as inconspicuous as possible from predators, so most will feed at night. During daylight hours they remain motionless in discrete corners of their host plant.

When the caterpillar is fully grown it stops eating and empties out its stomach and begins its transformation into a chrysalis, its pupal case. You may notice that the pupa is about half the length of the larva. This is because about half of the larva is stomach. When the pupa forms, the larva stage is over and the parts it had are no longer necessary.

After a couple of weeks the wings are visible and the pupal case splits and the adult butterfly quickly emerges. The metamorphosis of an egg to a butterfly is just incredible!

Create a Real Habitat
Butterflies are not demanding guests but, they are particular about their surroundings.

The vast majority of butterflies are sun-lovers so give them plenty of sun in an open location. The optimum body temperature for a butterfly to fly is between 82 °- 102° F.

Butterflies can fly in air temperatures as cool as 55° F, but they must regulate their body temperature and keep it warm by practicing behavioral tactics such as shivering their wings or basking in the sun. If the temperature is over 108° F, a butterfly body temperature may become too warm to fly and it may have to cool its body temperature.

They are delicate creatures that need shelter from wind, rain and the dark of night. Butterflies will thrive better if they do not have to battle the wind while feeding on nectar plants or looking for host plants to lay their eggs.

Orient your butterfly garden so larger nectar plants and host plants block the prevailing winds. Position your butterfly garden where the wind is blocked by a small fence, row of evergreen trees, large rock, or house. Locate your butterfly garden on the back side of a slope where high winds will be blocked.
These delicate creatures will perch underneath a leaf or branch of a shrub to shelter itself from rain. They will also take shelter under a pile of branches or logs. The log pile you keep in the corner for firewood offers many more nooks and crannies for butterflies to hide in during stormy or windy weather.

Most butterflies are diurnal. At night they roost underneath the foliage of trees, plants, shrubs or grasses. They may even roost on overcast days because they can’t raise their body temperature high enough to fly without the help of the sun.

Water
Provide butterflies with a source of water. Water that is dripping, splashing, or moving will get a lot of attention. You often see butterflies gliding through a mist on a hot summer day.

Butterflies also engage in a behavior called puddling. This is when a butterfly sits at the edge of a shallow mud puddle or wet sandy area and sips rich mineral water. Generally more males than females puddle and it is believed that the salts and nutrients in the puddles are needed for successful mating.

Food
Both the butterflies and the caterpillars need specific plants or flowers to satisfy their energy needs. The more native plants you grow, the greater your chances for attracting more butterflies.

Older plant varieties work better than newer developed hybrids. Plant your flowers in clumps, not rows. This increases the chances of butterflies finding and choosing your garden for a feeding stop. Keep in mind that the larval host has nothing to do with the adult’s liquid diet.
The proper host plants for caterpillar feeding must be included to ultimately have the desired butterfly species. A plant list follows.

Pesticides & Herbicides
You will also have to stop using pesticides and herbicides in your garden; this includes the “natural” pest treatment Bt, Bacillus thuringiensis. Pesticides do not discriminate between a tomato hornworm and a swallowtail caterpillar.

Butterflies are very important in our world and this fact often gets overlooked. There are about 12,000 different species of butterflies in the world. Butterflies play a part in pollinating the earth's plant population and they are also an important part of the food chain.

They are a beautiful addition to any garden, complementing flowers and foliage with bright colors and movement.

The following list should help you attract these garden guests.

Suggested Butterfly Plantings
(A) annual; (P) perennial; (V) vine; (W) weed; (S) shrub; (T) tree

Host Plants
(P) Aster, (P) bee balm, (A) burdock, (A) heliotrope, (P) ironweed, (P) milkweed, (W) nettles, (P) pussy toes, (P) Queen Anne’s lace, (P) sage, (A) carrot, (A) dill, (A) fennel, (A) parsley, (W) thistle, (P) violets, (W) white clover, (V) Dutchman’s pipe, (T) elm, (T) birch, (T) hackberry, (T) hawthorn, (T) pawpaw, (T) persimmon, (T) poplar, (T) prickly ash, (S) spicebush, (T) willow

Nectar Plants
ageratum, (A) alyssum, (P) aster, (A) bachelor’s buttons, (P) beardtongues, (P) bee balm, (P) black-eyed-Susan, (P) blue spiraea, (P) chaste tree, (P) chrysanthemum, (A) cleome, (W) clover, (P) columbine, (P) coneflower, (A) cosmos, (P) daylilies, (P) dianthus, (P) gayfeather, (P) goldenrod, (A) geranium, (A) heliotrope, (P) Indian blanket, (P) Joe-Pye weed, (A) lantana, (P) meadowsweet, (P) milkweed, (A) nicotiana, (A) pentas, (A) petunia, (P) pincushion flower, (P) rose mallow, (P) sedum, (P) shasta daisy, (P) sneezeweed, (P) summer phlox, (A) sunflower, (V) sweet pea, (W) thistle, (P) tickseed, (A) verbena, (P) yarrow, (A) zinnia, (A) dill, (A) parsley, (A) rosemary, (P) sage, (A) thyme, (V) clematis, (S) clethra, (T) buckeye, (T) dogwood, (V) honeysuckle, (S) lilac, (T) locust, (T) redbud, (S) spicebush, (S) viburnum, (V) wisteria.

Many of these wildlife friendly plants can be found growing in the Leonard J. Buck Garden. Use the garden as a guide to help you plant a landscape that welcomes these beautiful, winged creatures. In the process, you’ll create a garden that enriches your own life.

- Tricia Scibilia, interpretive gardener, Leonard J. Buck Garden, Somerset County Park Commission: www.somersetcountyparks.org
**All photos by Tricia Scibilia