[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” bg_type=”image” bg_override=”full”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1472607192149{background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: contain !important;}”][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/6″][vc_single_image image=”7475″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/6″][vcex_spacing size=”90px”][vc_column_text]

Butterfly Gardens

[/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_column_text] Butterflies are very important little creatures. They carry pollen from plant to plant which plants need to make their seeds. Without seeds, plants could not reproduce and many would become extinct. But butterflies are in danger, too. They need places to live. You can help butterflies by making a home for them in your yard. [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472697538092{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”] Pick a good spot. Choose a spot where you can view the garden from a window or sitting area. You’ll need full sun, 6 or more hours a day. For limited space, consider container gardening. A site sheltered from heavy winds, protected by trees, shrubs or walls works best. Stones set in sunny locations give butterflies spots to warm their bodies for flying. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_single_image image=”7471″][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” css=”.vc_custom_1472617351693{background-color: #f5b62b !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/3″][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_single_image image=”7654″ alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1473141781919{border-right-width: 20px !important;border-left-width: 20px !important;border-left-color: #ffc20e !important;border-right-color: #ffc20e !important;}”][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472697833048{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”]

MILKWEED or BUTTERFLY WEED

BOTANICAL NAME:  Asclepias spp. [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472697966378{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”] BLOOM TIME:  Early to Mid-Summer [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472697983777{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”] COLORS:  Depends upon species – orange, reds, yellows, pinks [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472698021770{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”] SPECIAL FEATURES: Milkweeds are the required host plants for caterpillars of the monarch butterfly. Milkweed plants are the host plants for monarch butterflies, but milkweed is also a highly sought nectar source for many other butterfly species as well as hummingbirds and many beneficial insects. The showy flowers of milkweeds offer abundant, high quality nectar to pollinators, making them notable honey bee plants. [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_separator border_width=”2″][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472698111090{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”]

NARROW-LEAFED MILKWEED

BOTANICAL NAME: Asclepius fascicularis [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472698165312{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”] BLOOM TIME:  May – October [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472698185561{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”] COLORS: Corolla pink, corona white [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472698206968{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”] Narrow-leaved milkweed is the most widespread species in California, growing in every region of the state except the Sonoran Desert and the mountainous regions of the Sierra Nevada. Milkweed is easiest to sow seeds outside directly in fall rather than summer. [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_separator border_width=”2″][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472696624281{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”]

BUTTERFLY BUSH

BOTANICAL NAME:  Buddleia davidii [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472696729524{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”]

PLANT TYPE:  Shrub

[/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472696709809{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”] SUN EXPOSURE:  Full Sun [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472696665580{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”]

BLOOM TIME:  Summer and Fall

[/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472696778542{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”] COLORS:  Pink, Purple, White and Magenta [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472696840215{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”] SPECIAL FEATURES:  Attracts Birds and Butterflies Buddleias need full sun and fertile, well-drained soil. [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”10px”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1472696884991{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;}”] Milkweeds are very DROUGHT TOLERANT. Water them freely when first planted and when growing vigorously. Then, sparingly the rest of the time. In the summer, if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week, water deeply when needed. [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_separator border_width=”2″][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_single_image image=”6639″ add_caption=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1472698367281{margin-right: 20px !important;margin-left: 20px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1472617523182{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-left: 10px !important;border-right-width: 10px !important;border-left-width: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-left: 10px !important;}”][vcex_spacing][vc_column_text]

Tips to Help Attract Butterflies to Your Garden

PLANT NECTAR PLANTS

At different stages of their lives, butterflies eat different things. The caterpillar of almost all butterflies eat various parts of plants, especially the leaves. Each kind of butterfly (species) may prefer only a few kinds of plants or plant parts. Most butterfly adults sip flower nectar (but some eat fluids from sap flowers on trees, rotting fruits, bird or animal droppings.) Pay attention to the plants that butterflies land on in nurseries and public gardens and plant the same ones in your garden.

 

PROVIDE WATER

Most adult  eat only liquids of different kinds to maintain their water balance and to give them energy. Butterflies sometimes have to drink fluids from wet sand or mud along streams and at the edges of dirt roads or trails. A big rock with a natural indentation makes a good drinking fountain for butterflies. Shallow puddles are good also.

 

OFFER SHELTER

Butterflies do not fl y at night. When it rains, they usually seek shelter in the same places they go for the night. Some butterflies hide under leaves, some crawl down under rocks, and some just sit, with their head down, on grass or branches with their wings held tightly. If it rains very hard, or if it is very windy, butterflies can become tattered or die. They prefer sunny areas because they are “coldblooded,” and need the sun’s heat to warm their bodies before they can fl y around.

PLANT FLOWERS THAT ATTRACT BUTTERFLIES

Butterfly food. Butterflies can eat anything that can dissolve in water. They mostly feed on nectar from flowers but also eat tree sap, dung, pollen, or rotting fruit. [/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_column_text]

BUILD A SOIL FOOD WEB

A healthy soil food web will benefit all plants and creatures. Soil organisms feed on organic compounds in the soil, breaking down and releasing nutrients the plants need but cannot extract from the soil themselves. A healthy soil food web of organisms breaking down organic matter into a form available for nutrient uptake by plants’ roots improves the fertility of the soil and the vigor of the plants.  Compost worked into the soil is an excellent natural amendment that improves soil conditions by feeding and increasing soil organisms and increasing soil moisture retention. Organic mulches applied as a top dressing suppress weeds, prolong soil moisture, help control erosion and improve soil conditions and the soil food web as they break down over time.

 

AVOID USING PESTICIDES

Butterflies are insects. Any insecticide that can kill your gardens “pests,” will kill butterflies and other friends, too. Any insecticide may affect butterfly caterpillars, other beneficials, and soil microbes. Even a small dose of pesticides will ruin a sustainable garden’s biological balance and biodiversity advantage. One of the most important conservation decisions you can make is to avoid the use of chemicals in the garden. It is healthier for you, the beneficial insects, and the environment.  Go Organic and Don’t Use Chemicals!

 

[/vc_column_text][vc_separator border_width=”2″][vcex_spacing size=”20px”][vc_single_image image=”7494″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” css=”.vc_custom_1473125833360{margin-right: 40px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1473126047672{margin-right: 60px !important;margin-left: 40px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;}”][vcex_spacing size=”50px”][vcex_spacing size=”50px”][vc_column_text]

HOST & NECTAR PLANTS

The main purpose of “host“ plants is to provide shelter for butterflies to lay their eggs, and provide food for developing caterpillars. Host plants encourage the butterflies to breed and lay eggs. 

The main purpose of “nectar“ plants is to provide food for adult butterflies.

[/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1473130327204{margin-right: 40px !important;margin-left: 40px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}”]

type of Butterfly	Caterpillar Host Plant	Butterfly Nectar Source
American Painted Lady	Everlasting, Daisy, Burdock	Aster, Dogbane, Goldenrod, Mallow, Privet, Vetch
American Snout	Hackberry	Aster, Dogbane, Dogwood, Goldenrod, Pepperbush
Anise Swallowtail	Queen Anne’s Lace	Buddleia, Joe Pye Weed
Baltimore Checkerspot	Turtlehead, False Foxglove, Plantain	Milkweed, Viburnum, Wild Rose
Black Swallowtail	Parsley, Dill, Fennel	Aster, Buddleia, Joe Pye Weed, Alfalfa
Clouded Sulphur	Clover	Goldenrod, Grape Hyacinth, Marigold
Cloudless Sulphur	Cassia, Apple, Clover	Zinnia, Butterfly Bush, Cosmos, Cushion Mum
Comma	Elm, Hops, Nettle	Butterfly Bush, Dandelion
Common Buckeye	Snapdragon, Loosestrife	Carpetweed
Common Checkered Skipper	Mallow/Hollyhock	Shepherd’s needles, Fleabane, Aster, Red Clover
Common Sulphur	Vetch	Aster, Dogbane, Goldenrod
Common Wood-nymph	Purpletop Grass	Purple Coneflower
Eastern Pygmy Blue	Glasswort	Salt Bush
Eastern Tailed Blue	Clover, Peas	Dogbane
Falcate Orangetip	Rock Cress, Mustard	Mustard, Strawberry, Chickweed, Violet
Giant Swallowtail	Citrus	Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia
Gorgone Checkerspot	Sunflower	Sunflower, Goldenrod
Gray Hairstreak	Mallow/Hollyhock, Clover, Alfalfa	Thistle, Ice Plant
Great Spangled Fritillary	Violet	Thiste, Black-eyed Susan, Milkweed, Ironweed
Greater Fritillary	Violet	Joe Pye Weed
Gulf Fritillary	Pentas, Passion-vine	Joe Pye Weed
Hackberry Emperor	Hackberry	Sap, Rotting fruit, Dung, Carrion
Little Glassywing	Purpletop Grass	Dogbane, Zinnia
Little Yellow	Cassia, Clover	Clover
Monarch	Milkweed	Dogbane, Buddleia
Mourning Cloak	Willow, Elm, Poplar, Birch, Nettle, Wild Rose	Butterfly Bush, Milkweed, Shasta Daisy, Dogbane
Orange Sulphur	Vetch. Alfalfa, Clover	Alfalfa, Aster, Clover, Verbena
Orange-barred Sulphur	Cassia	Many plants
Painted Lady	Thistle, Daisy, Mallow/Hollyhock, Burdock	Aster, Zinnia
Pearl Crescent	Aster	Dogbane
Pipevine Swallowtail	Dutchman’s Pipe, Pipevine	Buddleia
Polydamus Swallowtail	Pipevine	Buddleia
Queen	Milkweed	Milkweed, Beggar-tick, Daisy
Question Mark	Hackberry, Elm, Nettle, Basswood	Aster, Milkweed, Sweet Pepperbush
Red Admiral	Nettle	Stonecrop, Clover, Aster, Dandelion, Goldenrod, Mallow
Red-spotted Purple	Black Cherry, Willow, Poplar	Privet, Poplar
Silver-spotted Skipper	Black Locust, Wisteria	Dogbane, Privet, Clover, Thistle, Winter Cress
Silvery Checkerspot	Sunflower	Cosmos, Blanket Flower, Marigold, Phlox, Zinnia
Sleepy Orange	Cassia, Clover	Blue Porter, Beggar Tick, Aster
Spicebush Swallowtail	Spicebush, Sassafras	Dogbane, Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia
Spring Azure	Dogwood, Viburnum, Blueberry, Spirea, Apple	Blackberry, Cherry, Dogwood, Forget-me-not, Holly
Tawny Emperor	Hackberry	Tree sap, Rotting fruit, Dung, Carrion
Tiger Swallowtail	Black Cherry, Birch, Poplar, Willow	Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia
Variegated Fritillary	Violet, Passion Vine	Joe Pye Weed
Viceroy	Willow, Poplar, Fruit Trees	Thistle, Beggar-tick, Goldenrod, Milkweed
Western Tailed Blue	Clover, Peas	Legumes
White Admiral	Birch, Willow, Poplar, Honeysuckle	Aphid Honeydew, Bramble Blossom
Zabulon Skipper	Purpletop Grass	Blackberry, Vetch, Milkweed, Buttonbush,Thistle
Zebra Longwing	Passion-vine	Verbena, Lantana, Shepard’s Needle
Zebra Swallowtail	Pawpaw	Dogbane, Joe Pye Weed, Buddleia, Privet, Blueberry

  [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]