How do you create a butterfly garden? Simply put butterfly gardening is the art of growing flowers and plants that will attract these colorful and dainty creatures to your garden. Delight your family and visitors with beautiful butterflies, but be sure to create a safe habitat for them. If you own cats rethink your plans, because it would be a shame to attract these lovely insects to their death.
The design your butterfly garden is a matter of personal preference. Typical points to consider are the size of your garden and the types of flowers and plants you want to grow. When designing your butterfly garden you are going to want a look that is appealing to you, just make sure that it containes plants that butterflies are attracted to.
Make sure you do some research because it is important to find out what perennials will attract butterflies. that live in your area. You can find any of this online
There must be water to recreate the type of enviroment that butterflies love. A birdbath will look attractive and keep the butterflies up off the ground, away from stray cats or mischievous puppies. I find that a shallow dish hung from a tree works fine.
As with any garden it is really important to choose the colors of the plants wisely for your butterfly garden. Butterflies do not care what color your garden is, however you do want the colors and textures to blend. Butterflies are attracted to those flowers that have nectar rather than pollen, like honeysuckle, milkweed, summer lilac, Valerian, daisies, Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium), Purple Coneflower, Yellow Sage, day lilies and lavender.
Landscapers and pro gardeners draw up plans to help them get the right spacing, look and feel of the butterfly garden. Keep in mind that warm colors like red and orange are flashy and showy. These colors have a greater impact against a strong green background. Cool colors such as blue and purple are soothing and toned down and would work better with a white contrast to create the look of freshness and brightness.