Date: Fri 28-Aug-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: JUDYC

Quick Words:

butterflies-Gardener-Bleach

Full Text:

SUBURBAN GARDENER: Gardens Of Flying Flowers

By Anthony C. Bleach

In a campaign to promote the planting of gardens to help butterflies, this

year has been nominated by the Royal Horticultural Society as "The Year of

Gardens and Butterflies." As well as adding beauty with these "flying

flowers," it is hoped such a promotion will help conserve butterflies by

providing nectar-bearing flowers and caterpillar food-plants.

Marney Hall, a British naturalist, has identified four main requirements -

what she calls the four "Ss" - which a garden needs in order to make it more

attractive to butterflies: Sustenance, Sunshine, Shelter and Structure.

Sustenance is nectar for adults and foliage for caterpillars. I would agree

that the essential plant for any butterfly garden is Buddleia davidii . I have

never seen another plant with seven or more swallowtails on it so often. Its

success is due to the huge volume of nectar it produces.

Runners-up include Sedums, Origanum, Iberis and Erysimum `Bowles' Mauve'

wallflower. It is a mistake to choose intensely hybridized cultivars that

produce little nectar, such as the popular Buddleia `Black Knight.' Wild

plants like bramble, joe-pye weed, boneset and Asclepias species, butterfly

weed are also good lures.

As a general rule, composite (daisy-type) flowers are good for butterflies

because most species have short tongues and cannot reach the nectar in tubular

flowers. To maintain a copious flow of nectar, keep the plants well-watered in

dry weather.

A major objective in planting a butterfly garden is to ensure a supply of

nectar for as long as possible. A variety of plants will provide a range of

flowering times. Towards the end of the year, butterflies about to go into

hibernation will benefit from fall flowering plants such as Asters and Sedums.

The flowering period of the buddleia can be extended by planting several

cultivars, and annuals such as stocks, candy tuft and heliotrope can be sown

at intervals to supply nectar through the summer.

Caterpillar food-plants include milkweeds, aspens, weeping willow, spicebush,

butter-and-eggs and other plants that normally grow on the edges of the woods.

Stinging nettles are a good food source, but they need to be cut at intervals

so that they do not become coarse. They should also have plenty of sun and be

rich in nitrogen. Feed them.

Shelter from wind is needed at all times, and hibernating butterflies need

deeper shelter like tangles of brambles, piles of branches, and tree roots.

The structure of the garden provides the microclimate needed by butterflies.

For instance, the transitional zone between lawn and shrubs or at the edge of

the woods provides shelter.

Butterflies thrive on neglect. Patches of weeds and grasses and untidy corners

help provide butterflies with all that is necessary for their entire life

cycle. Balance this by imposing some order in the garden, placing the plants

in groups rather than scattered around.

Robert Burton's recent article in The Garden was the best source I could find.

Jaret Daniels also has some good ideas in the latest Fine Gardening .

(Anthony C. Bleach coordinates the horticulture degree program at Naugatuck

Valley Community-Technical College in Waterbury.)