Backyard Butterfly Garden

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Spring is almost here so it’s time to start thinking about plants to grow for your Backyard Butterfly Garden! If you’re a first time butterfly gardener then this plant guide will be very helpful. These flying insects are so important for spreading natures magic (pollen) making it easier for us to enjoy the beauty our planet has to offer.

milkweed and monarch caterpillar

Backyard Butterfly Gardening is Happiness

When first thinking about building a butterfly garden most people have visions of the gardens at the Zoo or a favorite municipal garden center.  You need to realize these were laid out by professionals and are tended to by armies of volunteers and employees.

My suggestions is to start out small. Maybe you have a sunny spot in the corner of an existing plant bed or a space on your patio.

Below are a few simple suggestions I have found that have worked for me in the past:

Start off with a sunny spot, either in an existing garden or on the patio, but also have a little shade. Butterflies get hot too!

Make sure it’s in an area that is free of  commercial chemical laden fertilizer. An area where it hasn’t been applied in at least the last 2 years. Some say three but I’m sure two will be fine. Butterflies just like bees are very susceptible to poising, it’s causing a lot of problems for their survival.

Butterfly Plants

You have to bait them with yummy food! Common and easy perennials plants (they come back year after year, MY FAVORITE PLANT!) are Cone Flowers, Black-eye Susan’s, Zinnia, Shasta Daisies, Lantana, and Day Lilies.

Picture of a yellow black-eyed susan wildflower plant in backyard butterfly garden
Red coneflowers in backyard butterfly garden

Growing Plants for Butterflies

These plants are so easy to grow! Every novice gardener should be required to grow these…just so they will have success from the start. All you have to do is find a sunny spot in your backyard, rough up the ground with a rake, and sprinkle plant seeds on the rough exposed dirt. Lightly cover the seeds with a fine layer of soil then water…that’s it! Try and keep the seeds a little moist until you see some nice sprouting going on.

Read the instructions on the packet for soil temperatures. Your local weather forecast or your state University’s agricultural department will have the current soil temperatures in your area. Where I live, Oklahoma, I won’t put these seeds out until the first of April at the earliest.

orange zinnia with a orange butterfly on top getting nectar

Easiest Way to Plant a Butterfly Garden

You can also pick any and all of these up at your local plant nursery, mail order sites like Spring Hill Nursery, or your local spring herb festivals. The latter is my favorite because you’re supporting local growers and contributing to small business success.

Keep in mind butterflies like a fun, colorful spot to hang out in. Vibrant vivid colors like orange, red, purple, and yellow is sure to attract them.

They prefer flat, broad leafed shaped plants that give them a really easy sweet landing spot to gulp up the yummy delicious nectar.

Butterfly Herbs

Herbs are also top on their list of yumminess. Lavender, Fennel, Oregano, Dill, Garlic Flowers and Sage are favorites.

I’ve had success growing all these plant varieties together; it ends up being kind of eclectic looking and very LOW maintenance! These plants don’t require a lot of water and weeding. Butterflies like it messy!

Follow this link for a few other herbs suggestions to grow in your Backyard Garden!

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Milkweed

Of Course, you can’t forget the Milkweed! Milkweed is a necessity if you’re trying to attract these beautiful creatures. Butterfly Milkweed has a lovely subdued orange flower and is medium tall and somewhat lanky. It’s a very hardy native and also doesn’t require a lot of water.

Yellow butterfly milkweed in backyard butterfly garden

Swamp Milkweed displays muted, pinkish cluster flowers and just like the name suggests requires damp areas. Growing this variety would be fun around a water garden or pond.

Common purple Milkweed, butterfly plant in backyard butterfly garden
                                                   Beautiful “Common” milkweed

Common Milkweed looks a lot like the swamp variety but is extremely invasive and very drought resistant. This is the type that you see in rural country fields, definitely not recommended for urban gardening. So don’t go digging up these wild flowers from the side of the road unless you want your whole backyard, and your neighbors, one big field of this stuff!

Becoming very popular in the US is Tropical Milkweed. Unlike the native varieties they are annuals and look more tropical, duh! The one called “tropical” looks a lot like our native Butterfly MW but has a more dynamic red orange color. It’s sometimes known as Blood Flower.

Hairy Balls, Tropical Milkweed, Moon Flower Vine
        “Hairy Balls” Tropical Milkweed w/ Moon flower Vine

Hairy Balls MW or Balloon Plant is a very distinctive plant, this is the one I grew last year and had sweet success with monarch caterpillars. This variety is quite a conversation piece and is a unique addition to the garden. This white flower 👇 is a moon vine.

White Moonvine plant among a pink bougainvillea plant in our backyard

In the beginning I wanted the milkweed to act as a stake for the vine. But this sweet little plant turned into a gigantic, glorious mess! Moonvine would be a stunning vine to grow on a trellis like the one below. This one can easily be built in an afternoon.

backyard vine trellis in the garden with a cantaloupe vine

All these types of host plants get relatively tall and would make a great center anchor for your butterfly spot. Note: the Hairy Balls grows the tallest of all the varieties mentioned above topping out around 6 ft. It needs to be staked in most instances.

Monarch, Caterpillar, Hairy Balls, Tropical Milkweed in backyard butterfly garden
                                                                       Monarch Caterpillar feeding on Hairy Balls tropical milkweed

Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar

So in the end..…all of your efforts will hopefully, fingers crossed, result in some sort of screeching sound of joy and excitement when you notice your very own butterfly caterpillars hanging out on the milkweed! This, my friends, is so worth the time, money, and all your care throughout the long hot summer.

I just can’t tell you the smiles this little Caterpillar gave us last year. We purposely hung out every night just to keep watch on where he would be the next night. I highly recommend planting your butterfly garden in a very convenient and comfortable spot close to your outside lounging area.

Attempting to grow any kind of garden whether it’s a cutting garden, herb, butterfly, or veggie can be quite intimidating for a beginner, but it really isn’t all that hard, trust me on this. Just like anything the hard part is getting started. So come on, start planning and let’s share our gardens this year! Let’s grow it!

Always,

Elise

I look forward to seeing pics of your garden and any suggestions you can pass along my way

Note: you might include some sort of watering hole for your beautiful fluttering friends, they get thirsty too!

lime green zinnia in the butterfly garden
tropical milkweed in the butterfly garden

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[…] The “porch” swing is now a backyard garden swing hanging from the re-purposed play fort the contractor built for our little bitty kids ages ago. But that’s okay, we finally have a place to sit by the garden, have a glass of wine, and watch our veggies grow? […]

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