Terra's Garden
Monthly Column by Terra Hangen

When Sydney Eddison wrote “Gardening is a form of autobiography”, he uncovered an insight into gardeners and our gardens. We plant and tend what is meaningful to us. Like me, you may find it an honor to host butterflies and to provide them with a delicious buffet of nectar-holding flowers.

First let’s not neglect the humble caterpillars, which are part of the life cycle of butterflies. Do you have a back area of the yard where you can plant milkweed, goldenrod, Joe Pye weed, thistle, ragweed, and burdock and leave it to grow untended? Willow trees, poplars and wild cherries all provide food for hungry butterfly larvae. In warm climates passionflower provides food for larvae of all the heliconian species.

Of course, avoid herbicides and insecticides, which is always best to do, anyway. Butterflies will appreciate a small shallow muddy pond, which you can provide by filling a glazed saucer with a bit of mud, water, a bit of manure for minerals, and a shake of kitchen salt for the salts that nectar doesn’t provide.

Planting with nectar-producing flowers that butterflies drink from is fun, and quite easy. An excellent approach is to find out which butterflies live in your area, and select plants accordingly. In case you are inspired today and don’t want to research, here is a list of a few plants that attract a wide range of butterflies. Keep in mind that they are attracted when you plant a group of one type, rather than just a single plant.

Butterfly Bush. Can you guess from the name that these fragrant and pretty flower spikes are loved by butterflies? This bush reaches 3 to 10 feet tall, and you can keep it full by pruning it in early spring down to 12 inches. By summer it will be 3-5 feet tall and in full bloom. Butterfly Weed. These hot orange flowers attract Red Admirals, swallowtails, monarchs and skippers.

Wisteria attracts Silver spotted skippers, Ceanothus is a magnet for Spring Azure and Hedgerow Hairstreak, Hollyhock and Mallow for Painted Lady, West Coast Lady and some skippers, Queen Anne’s Lace for Eastern Black Swallowtail, and Borage for Anicia Checkerspot and Painted Lady.

Clovers (Trifolium) attract Eastern Tailed Blue, Clouded Sulphur and Orange Sulphur, Asters feed a wide variety of caterpillars and butterflies, and Blueberry bushes attract Arctic Fritillary, Spring Azure, Brown Elfin, Henry’s Elfin and Blueberry Sulphur butterflies.

More good choices are Jupiter’s Beard, Zinnias, Day Lilies, wildflower seed mixes, Lavender, Phlox, Coreopsis and Lantana. Remember, our gardens show what we deem important, and these seemingly fragile creatures will flutter by and entertain us when we provide a buffet for them. If you love butterflies add them to your autobiographical garden.

About the Author: For more of Terra Hangen's garden tidbits, fun garden photos of her black squirrel friend, tips for beginning writers, and a glimpse into her own journey as a writer visit her blog at http://terragarden.blogspot.com. She is celebrating the publication of her first book, Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts, written with 6 Christian writer friends, and scheduled for publication Oct. 2008 by Leafwood Publishers.