It doesn’t take much to create a butterfly-friendly garden! Try these quick tips for fast results:
- Butterflies prefer red, yellow, orange, pink, or purple blossoms and need flat-topped, clustered, or short-tubed flowers so they can get at the nectar. A few good choices: Zinnia, Purple Coneflower; Lantana; and Coreopsis.
- Butterflies also need native plants for all life stages – eggs, caterpillars, and new emerging butterflies are adapted to thrive with plants most likely found in their area. This is one reason Milkweed is so crucial to the Monarch migration. When planning the garden, combine plants for continuous bloom so butterflies will always find a food source.
- Always avoid using chemicals (or choosing plants treated with chemicals such as neonicotinoids). These are toxic to many caterpillars and they will not survive once the eggs hatch.
- Plant a variety of other flowers (and herbs) they can’t resist: Butterfly Bush; Sweet Alyssum; Wisteria; Hollyhocks; Sweet William; Red Bee Balm; Borage; Lavender; Chives; Allium; Phlox; and Butterfly Weed. These will call them in and they will stop by all your plants (pollinating each time!)
- Butterflies love the sun! They need to warm their wings for flight and will happily sit on a flat rock in the sun to rest and warm up. They also generally prefer feeding in full sun during the heat of the day (from mid-morning to mid-afternoon).
- Give them something to drink. Have you ever seen a group of butterflies gathered on wet sand or mud? They are extracting minerals and drinking water. You can recreate this by placing a layer of coarse sand in the shallow container (terracotta trays work well); keep the sand moist; and place where you see butterflies. Make sure to keep the sand moist but not submerged.
- Resist the urge to clean out gardens in the Fall. Many caterpillars overwinter in a chrysalis so if you remove tall plants, you may also be taking with you the chrysalis. In addition, birds love to peck away at left over seeds during the winter so you’re helping other wildlife.
Want more great ideas on butterfly gardening? Visit your region’s Extension office or website for Zone-specific suggestions. One website we really love is the Clemson Cooperative Extension, found here.
Interested in adding butterfly-friendly plants to your garden? We still have some left! Those can be found here.
Milkweed grows in a sturdy upright pattern with large leaves that turn from light green to dark green and sometimes to red as they mature. The plant can reach up to six-feet tall and produces a multi-clustered pinkish purple flower that is typically as large as a tennis ball and blooms throughout the summer, if regularly pruned. In addition to Monarchs, many other pollinators will visit these flowers so this plant does well if combined with other flowering plants. If leaves or stalks are broken, they ooze a white, milky substance which gives the plant its name. Large oblong seed pods eventually form with a hard husky shell and are often used in dried floral arrangements. When broken open, the silky seeds will float all over and can be a bit messy.
Milkweed requires full sun, light soil, and can handle drier conditions once established. This plant is also perennial (assuming you choose a variety native to your region) and spreads rapidly through a rhizome or taproot growing out from the plant. Planting just a few plants this year will eventually help you establish a large patch over time and will require some cutting back if it outgrows your flowerbed. While Milkweed will not fit every landscape design, there are many ways to include this amazing plant in your garden. Be creative and put the plant’s tall, sturdy structure to use to complement other more delicate plants. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:
The best and easiest way is to plant a cottage-style garden. These freeform gardens typically include hardy plants such as Hollyhocks, Tall Garden Phlox, Climbing Roses, and Daisies and it’s easy to tuck a few Milkweeds into that mix. As the summer goes, each plant will flower, inviting birds and butterflies from all over. Monarchs will feed from many different plants and you’ll most likely attract lots of other beneficial insects who’ll work hard to pollinate your garden or fruit trees.
Monarchs are the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration. Most other butterflies are able to overwinter as larvae or pupae but Monarchs cannot survive the cold. Relying on environmental changes, they know when it’s time to head South and will travel between 50 and 100 miles per day, taking up to two months to reach their winter home in Mexico or Southern California. They start returning to the Southern U.S. in late February, making pit stops along the way to refuel and reproduce. Over the course of the summer and their travels, they will produce four generations of Monarchs, each one travelling further North. The fourth generation does not reproduce the first year and are the ones who travel to overwinter and restart the cycle in the Spring.
Not all seed starter pots are created equal! Some like plastic or peat are hard on the environment while others are not so great for the seedlings. Luckily innovators have come up with a great alternative that’s friendly to the planet and tender seedlings.
Just like people, garden vegetable plants grow best when they’re with friends! If you struggle with pests, critters, or even want a better crop, companion gardening can help! For instance, did you know that bee balm and mint planted near tomatoes will enhance the flavor? 
o, knowing your garden helps determine the problems that need fixing (for instance, not all gardens have trouble with cutworms). The easiest approach to companion gardening is to plant flowers and veggies in a haphazard way. No long rows, no big patches of one plant, just all jumbled together in your plot. This confuses insects and critters as they’re looking for their favorite treat and effectively camouflages plants from their enemies!
Always wear gloves – all parts of the pepper are hot but the inside membranes and juices are the hottest. Even with gloves on, don’t touch your face, eyes, or nose. Keep milk on hand, too, as it will kill the burn much faster than water. Along with heat, each pepper has a unique flavor and color. Bell peppers have sweet and meaty flesh and are perfect for crunch and color; rubbed with olive oil and grilled whole; or sautéed and added to tomato sauce. Their sweet flavor and pretty colors only intensify if left on the vine to turn from green to yellow to orange to red. Chile peppers, too, come in a wide range of colors and the less hot versions can be made into lovely relishes, pickled with onions, or added to burgers or shishkabobs.
The beauty you’ve worked so hard to create outdoors can easily be turned into gorgeous wall art, all for a fraction of the cost of decor store prints. And all you need is one good digital photo of the one-of-a-kind subject matter right outside your backdoor! Whether you have an expensive multi-lens camera or a simple smart phone, you can freeze frame that beauty with just a couple clicks. Getting a good shot doesn’t require advanced skills. Just remember these simple garden photography basics:
Take your time. Spend a chunk of time watching the activity in your garden and you’ll eventually notice birds, butterflies, and bees that stop by. These make great shots – just use your “sports” mode and snap a bunch as they flit around the blooms. (And by the way, sitting in your garden is a great stress reliever!).