DIY Network

Homegrown Hint: Attracting Butterflies Homegrown Hint: Attracting Butterflies From "Fresh from the Garden" episode DFFG-213

Figure A

As an added bonus to its status as a vegetable, fennel is also attractive to beneficial insects like ladybugs, and it's a butterfly magnet (figure A). In fact, fennel can easily form the backbone of a butterfly garden. In this Homegrown Hint, Joe explains the life cycle of the butterfly and demonstrates how to create a beautiful garden that will meet the needs of each stage in a butterfly's life.

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If you want to plant a butterfly garden, pick a sunny, sheltered spot (sun is vital because butterflies are cold-blooded creatures that need to absorb its warmth in order to fly). And you need shelter from the wind, because too much gusty wind makes it difficult for butterflies to fly.

After the garden's location has been chosen, butterflies have three primary requirements: host plants for their larval or caterpillar stage; nectar plants for the adult butterflies to feed on; and a water source.

	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E

It just so happens that fennel is an important host plant for many butterflies, including the beautiful swallowtail. Adult swallowtails often lay their eggs in fennel foliage, where the eggs hatch and become caterpillars. The caterpillar of the Eastern tiger swallowtail is green with large orange and yellow eyespots. Swallowtail caterpillars eat a lot of food, and fennel is one of their favorites. So don't be surprised when a lot of its foliage disappears!

Once the caterpillars pupate and become adult butterflies, they look for nectar sources to feed on. So along with our fennel, you'll need to plant some flowers that will provide sweet, sugary nectar.

Many flowers provide nectar, including annuals like marigolds, zinnias, and lantanas (figure B); perennials such as purple coneflowers (figure C) and black-eyed Susans (figure D); and shrubs such as azaleas and abelias (figure E).

To finish the butterfly garden, you should add a water source. Butterflies can't drink from open water like birds and other animals; instead, they get moisture from landing in wet mud or sand, where they also take in nutrients and salt.

One way to provide for their water needs is to take a small basin such as a birdbath and fill it three-quarters full with builder's sand. Add some mushroom compost to provide the necessary nutrients and stir it up, then add just enough water to make a muddle. Butterflies will love this, just like they love a wet stream bank or a mud puddle after a rain.

It's amazing how easy creating a butterfly habitat can be, and you'll be rewarded by the sight of swarms of beautiful creatures close at hand.