I tweeted this afternoon after finding a Milbert’s Tortoiseshell using our garden plantings. Great way to start April finding something so colorful right out the back door! So this an opportunity to remind and inspire you. Just like the theme from the movie Field of Dreams “if you build it, they will come“. Building or maintaining a flower garden attractive to butterflies is the objective. What follows are some of my experiences, successes to get your green thumb and your garden planting genius warmed up.
Over the last several years we have utilized more containers (large) for plantings of annual flowers. There are several reasons for this: a) easier to protect from deer browse, plants can be netted b) irrigation easier c) many parts of yard already filled with cultivars, wildflowers d) yard isn’t suitable, e.g. too shady, dry etc. e) bulk up soil with amendments for good growth and f) flowers grow where you want even with concrete in place 😉
What to plant
There are many flower choices to put in the container. Some of the decision will be limited by where you live. The North American Butterfly Association and Jane Hurwitz published in 2018 Butterfly Gardening with extensive suggestion and expertise to guide your efforts.
Following are three photos of three swallowtail species. All of the swallowtail are large butterflies. The smallest, Pale Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon) (third photo down), has a 3 inch wingspan. Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudatus) [immediate photo below] has a 5 inch wingspan! They are spectacular in flight and coloration. I have used the garden plantings of Penstemon, Centranthus, Scabiosa to bring them into our yard. None of these are growing in container to allow larger patch size.
Outside of a formal garden
Most of our yard is meadow and not mowed. It has changed over time in composition as plants mature and adapt to annual variability of rain and temperature. For a while Wild Blue Flax (Linum lewisii) dominated until iconic flowers like Purple Coneflower got established. I continue add perennials looking to bolster butterfly usage and of course aesthetics.
I strongly encourage you to start planning, planting or augmenting your garden plantings. You will really smile when they come 😉
