You may have read in my Meet the Geek Squad post that I am interested in Butterfly Gardening. I thought I'd use today's Just Julie post to give you guys a little more in depth explanation of it and how easy it is to do.
For me my interest in butterflies started when I attended a play date at a local friends house. Outside in her backyard was a garden and butterflies were fluttering all around it. I couldn't believe how lucky she was to have them all congregating in her backyard. She began to explain how if you plant butterfly attracting plants then the butterflies will come. She rattled off the names of some of the plants and I tried my hardest to commit them to memory.
That weekend I loaded up the kids and headed to our local Home Depot. I purchased Milkweed, Porterweed, Lantana and planted them outside my kitchen window so that I could keep an eye out for the butterflies. It took 1-2 days (maybe), and like
magic I began to see butterflies, especially Monarch's feeding on my Milkweed. Within a few weeks my Milkweed was covered in Monarch caterpillars and I had to go out and buy more Milkweed just for them to eat.Since then our garden has grown and so has the variety of butterflies we attract. We're able to watch them feed, lay eggs, hatch into caterpillars, turn into chrysalis and emerge as beautiful butterflies. It is super easy to do and maintain. I do NOT have a green thumb at all yet I have been able to accomplish keeping these plants alive for nearly a year now.
If you live in the right climate for gardening then I highly recommend you try attracting butterflies to your garden. I promise you won't regret it.
Some great sites you can visit for more information on starting your own butterfly habitat are
5 comments:
I took my daughter to a butterfly garden once and she freaked out! I think it was because there were so many. She likes the occasional butterfly that shows up in our yard!
All 3 of my boys love butterflys.
We also like to watch humming birds.
i think i've seen some humming birds here too but am not sure. what i saw was fluttering so fast and by the time it caught my eye and i tried to get a better look it was gone. i guess i need to get some hummingbird feeders to attract them more.
I don't know if you know but if you follow the necessary steps, you can apply to the National Wildlife Foundation to have your garden certified and to purchase a sign that says so. I've been wanting to do this, but life slipped away. Next year, I'm going to do this! :)
Thanks for the tip! Actually I have seen this http://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/certify.html you get your garden certified as a Monarch Waystation and get a sign. I want to, just keep forgetting and putting it off. Sounds fun though and I look forward to it.
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