Article: Nectar for Butterflies

Created on: Monday, June 09, 2003

When planting flowers, group them together and they will be more enticing to butterflies. An abundance of one flower type seems to be more attractive that fewer numbers of a variety of different flowers. Be sure that your garden offers nectar flowers throughout the growing season so that butterflies can always find food. Plant nectar flowers of varying heights to attract different varieties of butterflies; smaller species of butterflies often stay lower than larger species, which prefer to stay high while feeding.

Our TOP TEN list of nectar plants is: Eupatorium, Rudbeckia, Liatris, Phlox, Coreopsis, Echinacea, Aster, Buddleia, Lavander, Echinops.

The satisfaction of watching butterflies flit around is immeasurable. You will want to share it, but how do you share a butterfly? By encouraging others to plant a butterfly garden and telling them how important and satisfying it can be.