Plants to grow to attract butterflies
The best flowers or plants for a butterfly garden are those that serve as nectar sources for the butterflies.
Kaylea Hutson GateHouse Plus

Everyone loves to watch butterflies flying through the air. One way to ensure the tiny creatures inhabit your space is to plant a butterfly garden.

The garden, which includes a variety of plants, has other advantages, explained Jeff Cantrell, education specialist with the Missouri Conservation Department.

"When you have a butterfly garden, you have a healthy yard," Cantrell said.

"This way you don't have to worry about kids or grand children going barefoot, because you cannot use pesticides or other chemicals [around butterflies]."

The best flowers or plants for a butterfly garden are those that serve as nectar sources for the butterflies. Monarch butterflies like asters, while early stage caterpillars like milkweed.

Other flowers, which also work in butterfly gardens, include coneflowers, blazing stars, lavender or purple spikes and rose verbena.

To organize a butterfly garden, Cantrell said people should begin by conducting a butterfly survey. This allows the homeowner to determine which butterflies will appear in their neighborhood during the warm times of the year.

The survey will help identify which native plants attract butterflies and should be included in a natural garden.

The next step includes designing the garden around the sun and the wind. The garden needs to be placed on a sunny site, which is blocked from the wind. The bright, sunny spot ensures that the butterflies will visit, and gives photographers calm conditions for close-up pictures.

When planting the garden, landscapers need to check for adult nectar sources. The nectar provides energy through its sugars and lipids.

Flowers with multiple florets or with broad petals furnish butterflies with the necessary landing pads where they can rest and sip nectar, as well as pollinate plants.

The final consideration, before sketching out the garden, includes furnishing breeding and larval feeding grounds for the butterflies.

Nurseries, which specialize in native plants, naturalists or master gardeners, can help homeowners determine which plants will work best for the area.

It is important to remember that butterfly gardens and yards need to be free from pesticides and other chemicals.

Gardens with a large plant diversity helps keep predators in check.

More information about butterflies and butterfly gardens can be found at www.butterflyhouse.org or www.grownative.org.