Extension Service Garden Hints

This spring, plant a butterfly garden

CORVALLIS - Butterflies are among the most beautiful, fragile animals in nature. You can attract these beauties to your garden by providing a few essentials for the different stages of their lives.

Butterflies and moths need host plants as caterpillars, nectar as adults, and sun, water and shelter from the wind, according to Nancy Allen, wildlife biologist at Oregon State University. In return they pollinate flowers, provide food for other wildlife and give pleasure to the gardener.

Near-sighted by nature, butterflies rely heavily on fragrance as well as color to be able to home in on blossoms. Fragrant nectar-producing flowers, such as lavender, lilac and honeysuckle are prized by adult butterflies.

The size and shape of flowers are also important. Larger butterflies, such as swallowtails, prefer to land on flowers with large, composite heads that offer them a stable platform for feeding. Large composites include asters, goldenrod, zinnia, marigolds and yarrow.

Stay away from the popularly named "butterfly bush" (Buddleia davidii). It is non-native and invasive. California lilac (Ceanothus) or chastetree (Vitex) are good alternatives, as they have similar foliage and flowers. Also, stick with old-fashioned flower varieties over some of the new showy hybrids that may produce less nectar.

In addition to nectar, butterflies need water and minerals. Unlike birds, butterflies do not drink from open water. They get the moisture they need from moist areas at the edge of puddles. You can create butterfly puddles by burying a container of wet sand in a sunny spot out of the wind. Add a few twigs or rocks on top as perches.

Male butterflies require additional sodium during the mating season. You can supply it by occasionally adding a pinch of salt to your puddle.

Allen and her students wrote a booklet, "The Wildlife Garden: Create a Butterfly Garden," that is published by the OSU Extension Service to help persons plan a butterfly garden. It contains information about the butterflies commonly found in the Pacific Northwest, and lists the host and nectar plants recommended for each species.

You can download "The Wildlife Garden: Create a Butterfly Garden" (EC 1549) from the web.

Or, call 1-800-561-6719 to request a printed copy of the OSU Extension Publications and Videos catalog.

By: Peg Herring
Source: Nancy Allen

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