Butterfly Gardening

Butterflies are some of the most beautiful and interesting creatures on Earth. A butterfly garden is an easy way to see more butterflies and to help them since many natural butterfly habitats have been lost to human activities like building homes, roads, and farms. It is easy to increase the number and variety of butterflies in your yard. Simply grow the plants the caterpillars like to eat, and plants that adult butterflies feed on! We can help – we have LOTS of informative articles to help you:

Butterfly Garden
Butterfly Garden

Create a Butterfly Garden

Butterfly Garden

Butterflies are some of the most beautiful and interesting creatures on Earth. By planting a butterfly garden with all of the right kinds of plants and flowers that butterflies love to feed on and lay eggs on, you will certainly have a yard full of butterflies throughout the growing season. Butterfly gardens can be any size – a window box, part of your landscaped yard, or even a wild untended area on your property. 

Creating a butterfly garden should start with some serious research to learn which kinds of butterflies are native to your area. You can learn that from our article “Butterfly Gardening by Area”. Make a list of all of the different kinds of butterflies you would like to attract, and then learn which flowers and plants they both feed on and lay eggs on. All of the plants will certainly be native to your area and therefore easy to grow with the right conditions and care. Adult butterflies will visit for a longer period if they find plants to lay their eggs on. These are called ‘Host Plants’ and you can read about them in our article on “Butterfly Host Plants.” 

Once you have done your research and know which kinds of plants you need, you should learn about the plants and flowers. What do they look like? How tall do they grow? What conditions do they thrive in? Perhaps print small pictures from the internet of each plant and flower so that you can begin to plan your butterfly garden by placing the pictures in the order in which you will want to plant them. In this way you can get a very good estimate of how much room you will need, and what your finished butterfly garden will look like. 

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Butterfly Garden

Check with a local greenhouse about getting these plants and flowers. Find out which ones are annuals and which are perennials. You may want to plant the annuals in the front of the garden or away from garden fencing because they will need to be replaced each year. Perennials will come back year after year so these should be near the back of the butterfly garden and left alone to grow and thrive. If your local greenhouse cannot get you the plants you need, check in catalogs that sell bulbs or online and order them. Be sure to learn when and how to best plant them, especially if you must purchase bulbs and start the plants from scratch.

You can add some butterfly garden accessories like a Butterfly House, which has slots the ideal size for keeping birds out while giving butterflies protection from the wind and weather, and are beautiful garden decorations. You could offer an additional nectar source close by to supplement your flowers. By providing both the food and shelter butterflies need you can prolong the butterfly’s stay in your garden and draw in others. 

Once you have designed and started your butterfly garden, you can be proud that you have made a habitat for butterflies in your own yard, which helps with the conservation of the many species of quickly disappearing butterflies today. You will certainly want to place your favorite outdoor furniture near so that you can enjoy all of your visitors day after day. 
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Our articles are free for you to copy and distribute. Make sure to give www.learnaboutnature.com credit for the article.

Butterfly Host Plants

Creating a butterfly garden should start with some serious research to learn which kinds of butterflies are native to your area. Knowing the TYPES of butterflies will help you determine the Butterfly Nectar Plants and Butterfly Host Plants you will want to plant when creating your butterfly garden. If you live in the United States, you can click on a state on the map below to view a list of butterflies found in that state. Below the map is a list of websites which will help you find adult butterflies found in other countries.

Butterflies Listed by State

Click on a state on the map below to view a list of butterflies found in that state.

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Washington Oregon California Nevada Idaho Utah Arizona Montana New Mexico Colorado Wyoming Texas North Dakota South Dakota Nebraska Kansas Oklahoma Minnesota Iowa Missouri Arkasas Oregon Illinois Indiana Kentucky Mississippi Tennessee Alabama Michigan Ohio New York Pennsylvania West Virginia Virginia New Jersey New Jersey North Carolina South Carolina Georgia Florida Vermont Vermont Maine Maine New Hampshire New Hampshire Massachusetts Massachusetts Connecticut Connecticut Rhode Island Rhode Island Delaware Maryland Maryland

It is important to know which adult butterflies are found in your area. This will help you determine the Butterfly Nectar Plants and Butterfly Host Plants you will want to plant when creating your butterfly garden.

BUTTERFLIES OF NORTH AMERICA BY STATE:

Alabama ButterfliesIowa ButterfliesNebraska ButterfliesRhode Island Butterflies
Arizona ButterfliesKansas ButterfliesNevada ButterfliesSouth Carolina Butterflies
Arkansas ButterfliesKentucky ButterfliesNew Hampshire ButterfliesSouth Dakota Butterflies
California ButterfliesLouisiana ButterfliesNew Jersey ButterfliesTennessee Butterflies
Colorado ButterfliesMaine ButterfliesNew Mexico ButterfliesTexas Butterflies
Connecticut ButterfliesMaryland ButterfliesNew York ButterfliesUtah Butterflies
Delaware ButterfliesMassachusetts ButterfliesNorth Carolina ButterfliesVermont Butterflies
Florida ButterfliesMichigan ButterfliesNorth Dakota ButterfliesVirginia Butterflies
Georgia ButterfliesMinnesota ButterfliesOhio ButterfliesWashington Butterflies
Idaho ButterfliesMississippi ButterfliesOklahoma ButterfliesWest Virginia Butterflies
Illinois ButterfliesMissouri ButterfliesOregon ButterfliesWisconsin Butterflies
Indiana ButterfliesMontana ButterfliesPennsylvania ButterfliesWyoming Butterflies

Butterflies Found in Other Countries

Butterflies and Moths in the NetherlandsLists and pictures of butterflies and moths they have encountered, studied and photographed so far in the Netherlands.
Butterflies and Moths of BelizeThese pages is part of a larger site on the biodiversity of Belize. The species lists provide a checklist to all butterflies (and some moth families) of Belize. Other pages give information on butterfly-plant relationships and general ecology.
Butterflies from France & French GuyanaIdentification of a large number of butterflies.
Butterfly IrelandThe site contains distributions maps, photographs of butterflies, caterpillars and pupae for Ireland, together with news and information.
Butterfly Photography in NorwayPhotos of Norwegian butterflies in their natural surroundings. Scientifically classified.
Butterflies of IrelandThis guide to the Butterflies of Ireland is divided into four family groups of butterflies containing brief details of all of the species of that group that are found in Ireland.
Butterflies of PolandDescribes all butterfly species from Poland. Most species are illustrated by author and other people. Available in Polish and partially in English.
Butterflies of SerbiaFull list of butterfly species living in Serbia, divided into families. 1 picture available for roughly 1/2 of species.
Butterfly Watching in OntarioButterfly viewing locations to help butterfly watchers in Ontario.
Captain’s European Butterfly GuideDestinations within Europe for seeing butterflies. Now including checklists for all European countries.
Derbyshire ButterfliesThis site has been created to illustrate the wide diversity of butterfly species that can be found in the rolling hills of Derbyshire.
Matt’s European ButterfliesMany European Butterflies are shown with a discussion and photographs of each species. Matt aims to show the beauty and variety and the depth of enjoyment from the challenges of finding, filming and identifying them
Moths and Butterflies of EuropeThis website provides a gigantic collection of European moth, butterfly and caterpillar pictures as well as info on their foodplants, breeding, and life cycles. Sorted by scientific names. Highly recommended!
Butterflies in SweedenFantastic picture gallery of butterflies found in Sweeden. A must see, just for the great photos.
Mexican ButterfliesWebsite devoted entirely to Mexican butterflies. Huge list sorted by common names.
Butterflies of CanadaIndex of Canadian butterflies.
Butterflies of Indo-ChinaA checklist of butterflies in Indo-China, chiefly from Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.
Peter Eeles British Butterfly Website An educational site containing
information and photos of all of British Butterflies.
Yale Peabody Museum: EntomologyEntomology The Lepidoptera Listserver (LEPS-L).

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