Summertime and the butterflies are flying. These days, you may have noticed the big yellow and black butterflies, the Western swallowtails, flitting about your yard. The overwintering chrysalises have opened and butterflies now fill meadows and local gardens alike.
Perhaps you would like to encourage wild butterflies such as swallowtails to hang around your garden. Providing nectar plants is the best way to entice butterflies. And there are other things you can do. Consider the following:
SUN — Butterflies prefer sunny open areas sheltered from wind. They like it warm. On the foggy coast, they often do not come out until the fog has lifted and the sun shines, usually after the noon hour.
PLANT — If you have a sunny protected area in the yard, do plant nectar annuals and perennials. Butterflies love zinnias, Mexican sunflowers, verbenas, daisies, alliums, bidens, mimulus, nepeta and lavender, to name just a few. Dahlias are a favorite if the flowers are single, not double and ruffled. Asters that bloom late summer and fall are a particular favorite.
THINK BIG — Don’t just buy a plant or two and think butterflies will flock to your garden. Planting a mass of zinnias, Mexican sunflowers or Verbena bonariensis will entice them to stop over and partake. Make a bold statement with mass plantings.
KEEP THE WEEDS — Butterflies do not prefer sterile, weed-free gardens. They love dandelions, thistle, blackberry and self-heal. Keep a few of these weeds around the sunny edges of the yard if you wish to have butterflies stop by and visit.
AVOID PESTICIDES — Chemical and organic pesticides that kill caterpillars must be avoided.
CONSIDER THE CATERPILLARS — Red admirals love stinging nettle; Western swallowtail butterflies, alder and wild willow; monarchs; milkweed; buckeyes, plantain. If you live near a wild riparian area, weedy ditch or abandoned field, consider yourself lucky.
BE PATIENT — If butterflies have never been part of your garden, they are not immediately going to hang out just because you made a zinnia patch. Plant a wide variety of flowers and larva plants. Keep a few weeds. In a couple of seasons, you may be discovered.
Source:-.times-standard
