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ms.lume from SuperEco group on flickr
Many beneficial insects like butterflies, bees and lady bugs are wanderers always in search of a meal. Planting certain flowers and herbs will entice them into your garden where they will comb it for pest insects.
Think of your flower garden as a beautiful place where bugs can meet, fall in love and begin a family! Before you know it they will be laying eggs and their offspring will be crawling your garden plants to feed upon pest insects such as aphids, caterpillars, leaf beetle larva, thrips, spider mites and whiteflies.
This is a wonderful site for matching specific flowers to attract certain butterflies.
Here is some handy advice:
1. Plant flowers to increase the likelihood that beneficial insects will colonize your garden and set up housekeeping.
2. Some plants that are most useful for supporting beneficial insects have small flowers with exposed nectar and pollen, herbs such as Cilantro, Boquet Dill, Fennel and Caraway (let them develop seed heads).
3. Plant perennials like Black-eyed Susans, Echinacea, Asters, Butterfly Weed, Lavender, Daisies, Coreopsis.
4. Some wonderful annuals for the butterfly garden are: Sweet William, Queen Anne's Lace, Nasturtium, Verbena, Allyssium.
6. Flowering shrubs like Lilac and Butterfly bush are also a big draw.
7. It is not necessary to plant a huge amount of flowers—if you can dedicate about ten percent of your garden (spread them around) for beneficial insects, you will soon begin to see steady bee, butterfly and lady-beetle traffic.
8. Plant a selection of flowers that will bloom in succession throughout the growing season; avoid gaps that will disrupt the colonization process.
9. Like all animals, insects need water to live and if you use a sprinkler to water your garden, the puddles that form should suffice to give bugs a drink.
10. Ground covers and mulches will help provide home and shelter for beneficial pest consuming ground beetles.
11. No pesticides.
And if you'd also like to help the bees, go here.
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Oh! I cannot wait to start planting!!!
Me either!! Lucy this is fabulous. And perfect to combine with helping the bees.
Great article, as always, Lucy. I've got quite a lot of those flowers already in my garden but will try some of the annuals this year, too.
i can't wait to start planting my butterfly garden - i'm so looking forward to this spring/summer, lucy!
Hi Lucy,
You have me inspired! Very nice article. A great site to find butterflies that are native to your local area is Butterflies and Moths of North America (http://butterfiesandmoths.org). If you are interested in some different butterfly garden plans and a blog containing more detail on the step-by-step process, you may want to checkout my website (http://ButterflyGardenPlan.com). Thanks again for sharing!
Try to avoid using preen(weed inhibitor) as your flowers will not grow if you are planting from seed, also avoid using preen near fish ponds as it is bad for amphibians and aquatic species.
Flowers
Even if you aren't able to grow your own flowers you can still help insects by keeping flower displays by an open windoe and keeping the water fresh.
Flowers
Even if you aren't able to grow your own flowers you can still help insects by keeping flower displays by an open windoe and keeping the water fresh.
Think of your flower garden as a beautiful place where bugs can meet, fall in love and begin a family!
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i can't wait to start planting my butterfly garden - i'm so looking forward to this spring/summer, lucy!
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