How To Attract Butterflies To Your Garden

Nick Durante
by Nick Durante

It’s no secret that butterflies are highly beneficial to any garden. They can help contribute to a healthy garden ecosystem, and they are great to look at. Luckily, there are many easy ways to attract butterflies to your garden.

To attract butterflies to your garden, try to plant bright and colorful flowers like marigolds and peonies. Install a butterfly house to attract butterflies and put fruit or nectar in a dish so they keep coming back. Butterflies also love butterfly bushes and flat stones that they can lounge on and spend time in the sun.

Never use pesticides or butterflies won’t be attracted to your garden. Follow along as we explore how to attract butterflies to your garden.

Do Butterflies Help Pollinate?

Butterflies are among the best pollinators in the world. They are just as effective at pollinating as bees in many areas throughout North America. Butterflies are drawn to plants that produce lots of nectar.

As they feed, they carry pollen from plant to plant and pollinate them along the way. That is why many homeowners want to attract butterflies to their gardens to encourage healthy growth. Without butterflies and bees, most bright and colorful flowers would pollinate at a much slower rate.

What Is A Great Way To Attract Butterflies To A Garden Area?

Whether it be planting colorful flowers or laying stones in your yard, there are many great ways to attract butterflies to your garden. Let’s take a look at the best ways to get more butterflies in your garden!

1. Colorful Flowers

Butterflies are attracted to colorful flowers in your garden. You can attract butterflies to your garden if you strategically plant colorful flowers. Plants with purple, orange, yellow, red, and pink leaves typically attract butterflies.

They also prefer flat leaves, as they are easier to land on. Peonies and verbenas are quite colorful, and butterflies love them.

2. Butterfly House

As the name suggests, butterfly houses give butterflies a spot to hang out in your yard. The more time they spend in your yard, the more likely they are to find their way into your garden. Place fruit or tree sap in a dish in the butterfly house to attract as many butterflies as possible.

This is one of the best ways to cultivate a natural ecosystem for butterflies in your garden. That way, they will continue to return to your garden daily during the spring and summer. You will have a well-pollinated garden in no time!

3. Butterfly Bush

Buddleia davidii, better known as butterfly bush, is the most effective plant for attracting butterflies. The leaves are purple which, is perfect for butterflies, and the plant is quite aromatic. Butterfly bush is quite aromatic and combined with the purple leaves makes this plant irresistible to butterflies.

The main reason a butterfly bush attracts butterflies is because it produces tons of nectar. Butterflies will flock to your garden in search of nectar. From there, they will help pollinate the other plants in your garden.

4. Fruit

Butterflies flock to fruit, whether it is fresh and ripe or old and fallen. You can either place fruit on the ground or in dishes around your garden or cultivate fruit. They love everything from nectarines and oranges to apples and strawberries.

Plants that bear fruit will attract butterflies to your garden. However, fruit-bearing plants don’t thrive in all climate zones. Because of that, it may be best to simply leave fruit out in your yard or place it in a butterfly house to attract butterflies.

5. Plant Marigolds

Not only are marigolds beautiful flowers, but butterflies love them. Their bright color and pleasant smell are enticing to butterflies. However, many other insects and pests hate marigolds.

This creates a win-win situation as marigolds can help rid your garden of mosquitoes, aphids, and tomato worms.

6. Stones

It may seem simple, but placing flat stones throughout your garden can attract butterflies. Butterflies love to spend as much time in the sun as possible. They also like to relax and give their wings a break, and that’s when flat stones come into play.

Strategically place the stones throughout your garden near bright and colorful plants. The colorful flowers will draw them in, and the flat stones will give them a place to relax after they feast on the nectar in your garden.

7. Look Out For Caterpillars

It can be easy to miss caterpillars when you walk around your garden. Caterpillars are butterfly larvae, and they are so small that many homeowners accidentally step on them. Squashing a caterpillar will ensure that it will never complete its metamorphosis and become a butterfly.

You are likely to find many caterpillars in your garden during spring and summer if you have colorful flowers. It’s also important to exercise caution when you water the plants in your garden. Watch out for caterpillars as they can easily drown when exposed to excess water.

8. Don’t Overdo It With Pesticides

Many homeowners use pesticides to rid their gardens of pesky and harmful bugs. While they are effective at getting rid of irritating bugs, they can also discourage helpful insects like butterflies from spending time in your garden. Pesticides can harm and even kill butterflies.

This will discourage the other butterflies in the area from visiting your garden when they eventually realize the area is dangerous. If you do use pesticides, try to avoid applying them in the areas around your butterfly-attracting plants. Otherwise, your bright and nectar-filled plants will draw butterflies in, but they may die when they get there.

Summing It Up

The best ways to attract butterflies to your garden are to put fruit out and plant colorful flowers. You can also attract butterflies if you put in plants that produce lots of nectar, such as butterfly bushes. Install a butterfly house and put a dish of nectar or fruit to entice butterflies so they will pollinate your flowers.

Put flat stones around your garden as butterflies like to lay in the sun after feasting on nectar. Avoid using pesticides and look out for caterpillars so you don’t accidentally step on them!

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Nick Durante
Nick Durante

Nick Durante is a professional writer with a primary focus on home improvement. When he is not writing about home improvement or taking on projects around the house, he likes to read and create art. He is always looking towards the newest trends in home improvement.

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