Super Eco

Photo credit: 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.