Container Garden 411

I grew up in the city surrounded by asphalt and concrete sidewalks, brick buildings and vacant lots – but there was no lack of nature or butterflies in my life. Amid the sprawl of a decaying urban landscape, the overgrown vacant lots choked with ‘weeds’ attracted so many butterflies that they would perch on my shoulders and hands if I was still enough. These ‘accidental’ butterfly gardens provided all the ingredients that butterflies require to congregate en masse. These same ingredients can turn your garden into a fairy wonderland of fluttering wings and color.

Over the past thirty years, butterfly gardening has become popular, both to attract the beautiful travelers and to help preserve species of butterflies that were dwindling due to human encroachment into their natural habitats. If you’re planning a butterfly garden, it’s important to keep in mind that there is no one recipe for a successful garden. Butterfly species that are indigenous to different areas are attracted to different types of plants. In order to foster butterflies, you’ll need to know the butterfly species that are found in your area, and provide them with plants that are favored food sources for adult butterflies as well as those plants that they prefer for laying their eggs and nourishing larva.

There are, however, some standards that apply to all butterfly gardens. Wherever you live and whatever butterflies you hope to attract, you’ll attract more of them if you follow a few simple basics:

Plant flowers in clumps and drifts.
Butterflies will flock to large expanses of flowers in similar colors that bloom at the same time rather than to single plants with just a few blooms. A carpet of violets, a sea of buttercups or a wide open field full of Queen Anne’s Lace is sure to be visited by dozens of butterflies.

Butterfly gardens need to provide both sun and shade.
Like all insects, butterflies are cold-blooded creatures. They thrive on warm sun, and will bask on flat rocks or perch for long minutes on the branches of a high bush in the sunlight. At the same time, they need shade and shelter when the sun is too hot, or on cool, cloudy days. An area that gets bright sun for at least 4-6 hours per day is the best spot for a butterfly garden, but don’t forget to include landscaping details that offer shade.

Butterflies love puddles.
Add a sunken birdbath to your garden, or provide a cluster of rocks that traps rain water to give butterflies a cool spot where they can indulge their love of standing water.

Regional Butterfly Species and Plants
Different species of butterflies frequent different parts of the country. You can find more information about which plants are best for your area at a local nursery, or the agricultural extension unit at a local university. For quick reference, though, here’s a short list of butterflies and plants that they love by region.

Northeastern N. America
From W. Virginia up through Quebec and as far west as Indiana and Ohio
Butterflies: Swallowtails (black, spicebush and tiger), Cabbage White, Pearl Crescent, Monarch, Buckeye, Red-spotted Purple, Great Spangled Fritillary
Plants: Milkweed (monarchs), fennel, parsley, carrot and dill (black swallowtails), spicebush (spicebush swallowtails), nasturtium (cabbage white), violets (great spangled fritillary), willow, birch, beech, aspen, wild cherry (many species)
Nectar Flowers: Buddleia, Heliotrope, Lantana, Milkweed, Mint, Pentas, Porterweed, Verbena and Zinnias.

Southeastern U.S.
Butterflies: Swallowtails (black, spicebush, tiger and pipevine), Buckeye, Pearl Crescent, Monarch, Cloudless Sulphur, Gulf Fritillary, Red-spotted purple
Plants: Fennel, carrot, spicebush, dill, parsley, pipevine (swallowtails), wild cherry, poplar, sassafras, passiflora, wild senna, asters, milkweed
Nectar Flowers: same as northeast

Southern Florida
Butterflies: Polydamas swallowtail, giant swallowtail, zebra longwing, Julia, gulf fritillary, orange-barred sulphur, cloudless sulphur, monarch, queen
Plants: milkweed, wild senna, passiflora, wild lime, citrus, dutchman’s pipe

Midwest
Butterflies: Swallowtails, Buckeye, Cloudless Sulphur, Pearl Crescent, Cabbage White, Monarch, Viceroy
Plants: Pipevines, fennel, carrot, dill, parsley, violets, nasturtium, wild senna, asters, snapdragon, verbena, cabbage, milkweed

New Mexico, Texas
Butterflies: Patch, Hackberry, Monarch, Pearl Crescent, Question Mark, Buckeye, Cloudless Sulphur, Gulf Fritillary
Plants: sunflowers, passiflora, hackberry, wild senna, milkweed, nettles, asters

Arizona, California, Nevada
Butterflies: Western tiger swallowtail, anise swallowtail, two-tailed swallowtail, black swallowtail, pale swallowtail, pipevine swallowtail, cloudless sulphur, west coast lady,  Monarch, gulf fritillary
Plants: Fennel, carrots, parsley, dill, wild senna, wild plums, buckthorns, wild cherries, wild lilacs, hollyhocks, ashes, willows, aspens, poplars

Western States and Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta
Butterflies: Western tiger swallowtail, pale swallowtail, cabbage white, striped hairstreak, Wiedemeyer’s Admiral, mourning cloak, monarch, great spangled fritillary, painted lady
Plants: wild plums and cherries, aspen, willow, poplar, sunflowers, buckthorns, wild lilacs, nasturtium, blueberries, ashes, violet, chokecherry

To get the best results from your butterfly gardens, be sure to learn about garden composting techniques which can help you grow more flowers much more quickly.

Rose bushes have long been prized in flower gardens around the world both for their beautiful fragrances as well as their gorgeous blooms.Gardening roses has traditionally taken a tender touch, as roses have typically been knows to be finicky plants, tricky to get to grow and bloom.  There is a push in our health conscious world today toward organic rose gardening, using all natural products on the roses, including the removal of insects that damage the plants.  

One thing to keep in mind while gardening roses is that before roses were 'discovered' by human beings and cultivated in gardens, rose bushes grew quite well on their own with no tending at all, thus proving that these plants are often hardier than we give them credit for.

Tips for Gardening

If the rose gardener is new to the task, it is a good idea to choose a hardier version of rose bush, depending on the climate where they will be grown.  For instance, in a hot climate, tea roses could be a good choice, but would not survive well at all if the climate is colder.Explorer roses however would do quite nicely in a cold climate, so the choice of rose for the particular climate is key.  

This is sometimes one of the hardest decisions for new rose gardeners, since many of them have in mind the specific type of rose that they are determined to grow in their garden just like they have dreamed of doing for years.  However, this is a set up for disaster, since roses are pre-determined for certain climates, unless the person is gardening roses in a green house where it is moderate temperature at all times.

Another tip for gardening roses is to plant the garden in full sunlight.  The only exception to this is if it is already a very hot climate where the roses will need a slight break from the sun in the afternoon.In addition, rose bushes do not usually like to grow near to each other, so there needs to be a decent amount of space between bushes so there is air circulation between them.

Some rose gardeners think about roses as being almost human, with temperaments of their own.  As such, they will talk to the plants as they move among them, although there is not scientific evidence to back up the though that this helps them to grow.One thing that does help in rose gardening is to water the roots of the plant.Even though it seems that watering the entire plant would simulate rain and produce a better result, watering the roots gives more water to the plant, allowing it to drink deeply.