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How To Plant a Butterfly Garden

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Early in the summer, we went hiking on our Colorado road trip. My kids noticed a beautiful black, white and purple butterfly on one of the trails. We had never seen a butterfly like that before – and it captured the kids’ attention for about 15 minutes before flying away. Everyone wished we had butterflies like that around our house. That little Colorado butterfly is what inspired us to plant a butterfly garden.

plant-a-butterfly-garden

A butterfly garden is just like a regular flower garden – except it is full of specific flowers, herbs and plants that attract butterflies. I did a bit of research and made a list of common butterfly garden plants. My list (see below) includes annual and perennial flowers and herbs that attract butterflies. I visited my local nursery to see which ones I could find to plant in our garden. I bolded the names of the flowers we planted in our butterfly garden.

Flowers and Plants that Attract Butterflies

Aster
Butterfly bush
Calendula
Cosmos
Daylily
Delphinium
Dianthus
Goldenrod
Hollyhock
Lavender
Marigold
Oregano
Parsley
Phlox
Coneflower (Echinacea)
Queen Anne’s lace
Sage
Shasta daisy
Verbena
Yarrow
Zinnia

*Butterfly Garden Tip: It is helpful to go organic in the garden. When you use powerful toxic chemicals to kill harmful garden insects, it kills the good insects (like butterflies), too. An organic gardening approach is safer for the ecosystem. Plus, you won’t risk exposing  yourself, family, and pets to poisonous chemicals.

butterfly-garden

Our Butterfly Garden Success.

It took less than a week for the butterflies to start showing up at our garden. Since we planted the butterfly garden, we have seen at least 3 different species of butterfly out there. We have lived in our house for three summers now, and this is the first year butterflies have visited us. I know it has everything to do with our flower garden.

Butterfly Garden monarch-butterfly-on-flower

Next year, my family will plant even more of the flowers, plants and herbs that attract our beautiful winged guests. My kids love to help water the flowers.

How To Plant a Butterfly Garden - Flowers and Herbs That Attract Butterflies! #Gardening #FaveCrafters Click To Tweet

How To Plant a Butterfly Garden - flowers-that-attract-butterflies

Gardening with less chemicals is healthier for the butterflies, and for everyone else in the environment.

Need some inspiration for your garden? Check out DIYIdeaCenter.com for all sorts of gardening ideas!

What are some ways your family is enjoying the outdoors this summer? Does your family enjoy raising a garden? Going on family picnics? Hosting barbeque parties?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. We enjoy going to the Lake and having a picnic and going swimming and floating on our float toys. We also like taking walks and riding our bikes!

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  6. My family loves spending time at the river. We cookout at the river every weekend, then canoe, fish and swim. We often spend the entire day there, ending with sitting around a fire pit, roasting marshmallows and making s’mores. 🙂

    Reply

  26. as a family we enjoy camping together but my fav summer pastime is watching the grandkids poolside.

    Reply

  37. We like to go to the beach and walk in the surf. Also my husband makes me plant Zinnias every year since he saw that the butterflys like them,

    Reply

  40. We love to just be outside! We try to eat & cook outside as much as we can, swim, talk walks, play at the park!

    Reply

  52. We are a big softball family so we get out there and throw the ball around when there is not practice or games. Thank you!

    Reply

  55. I visited Finish Dishwashing and something my family and I enjoy doing outdoors in the summertime is visiting local festivals and fairs in our area.

    Reply

  58. We live in Kissimmee, FL. So, we actually have our fun during cooler, non-tourist season time. We like doing all the same things the tourists do in the area.

    Reply

  60. We looove swimming in the apartment pool. Hopefully one day it’ll be the beach or our own pool instead. 🙂

    Reply

  62. What my family loves to do outdoors in the summer time is taking walks and going for Gator Rides, we leave out in a very rural area, so we can take all of nature in during our walks and rides. We also enjoy playing corn hole, that definitely brings the family closer together

    Reply

  63. Visited the post.
    We all enjoy walking in the woods in the summer – so much to see!
    thank you

    Reply

  64. We farm, so there is no shortage of things to do outside in the summertime. Tomorrow’s “fun” includes laying out irrigation pipe!

    Reply

    • Wow, you farmers really know how to put the “F” in fun! 🙂 Good luck with your irrigation pipe. Sounds like a lot of hard work. Thanks for stopping by! -Nicole

      Reply

  81. Hi! We enjoy swimming. Whether it’s the beach or the pool, it’s always fun & refreshing! Thank-you!!

    Reply

  87. We enjoy gardening as well! We have raspberry bushes, heirloom tomatoes, herbs, cukes, lots of peppers, onions, garlic, beans….I could go on 🙂

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    • Yum! Your garden sounds so good. I keep wishing we’d plant berry bushes. It seems like every time I finally plant berries, we move to a different house before I ever get to enjoy picking them. LOL My zucchini is going CRAZY right now, we are getting way too much. I thought I had planted half zucchini, half yellow squash. Turns out it is ALL zucchini. No squash at all – and that is my favorite. Enjoy your harvest! 🙂 — Nicole

      Reply

  102. It is not the picket fence vote. It’s he other one. The picket fence vote works fine for me.

    Reply

    • Thanks for clicking it. I think that voting period just ended so I need to take that option off. It’s totally my fault, I thank you for bringing it to my attention so I can fix it. -Nicole

      Reply

  113. My daughter and I love doing science projects at home! Super bubbles. Homemade slimes and concoctions. Anything glowing.

    Reply

  127. We have a small rose garden (among other flowers) in our backyard and since we go organic as well we have to constantly keep up with weeds and the like so we manage it all year round, not just in the summertime. It is work but we do it because we love it.

    Reply

  130. We enjoy our summer by swimming in our pool and spending many weekends camping on the beautiful lakes and state parks here in Arkansas! There is nothing better than a weekend staycation digging for diamonds or riding the rapids 🙂

    Reply

  131. We love to go to a calm lake, sit back, and enjoy the view. We especially love the reflection of the houses and tress in the lakes. Sometimes, we will barbecue while we are there.

    Reply

  133. We love looking for frogs at night, and trying to catch lightning bugs. My daughter caught four in just one night. They are amazing creatures!

    Reply

  148. My family and I enjoy going to the local water park in the summer and enjoying the water slides!

    Reply

  155. I saw this as I was reading another article on your site and I had to look! I can’t wait for spring and summer! This little garden is so cute and contains some of my favorite flowers, especially the zinnas!

    Reply

    • I’m excited to see if any of the perennials in the butterfly garden survived the cold winter. I can’t wait for this summer’s planting season. I miss my flowers! Thanks for your comments!

      Reply

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