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Butterfly gardens contain not only lovely plants but they are designed specifically to attract butterflies. Butterfly gardens can be grown anywhere but they are particularly suited to North America as most at butterfly attractive plants are native to this area. You don't need a full garden of butterfly plants but can attract butterflies with only just a few containers of butterfly plants.

Some general requirements for a butterfly garden are to have nectar plant source, larval host plants, pesticide free environment, full sun and some local butterfly fauna. Many butterfly attractive plants are native to North America and need little attention to grow or thrive. You should plant your garden in the spring with younger plants. This will give the plants the time to mature and be very strong the following year.

You need to have more than one nectar producing plant in your garden to attract many different types of butterflies. Many different nectar sources will encourage different butterflies as well as encouraging them to lay eggs in your garden. Once the eggs are hatched you should expect to see newborn butterflies in about 6 weeks.

Zinnia's, Vervin, Blazing Star, Swamp Milkweed, Purple Coneflower, New England Aster, French Marigold, Lantana, Joe-Pye Weed, Ironweed, Egyptian Star Flower, Butterfly Weed, Butterfly Bush, Black-Eyed Susan and Azaleas are all plants that attract butterflies.

You should plant your butterfly plants in full sun areas, as the plants need the sun to grow and produce nectar. Butterflies also need the sun so that they can warm up their body. Butterflies are attracted to strong scents and color. You want to use nectar producing plants as well as colorful plants. Butterflies can see color and they prefer dark pink, purple, yellow, orange and red. The color encourages the butterflies to stick around.

Butterflies like to meet and gather around small puddles of liquid. You can use stale beer, sweet drinks and water and create your own small permanent puddle places. You can also attract them by placing puddles and food areas close together. It is very easy to hang a butterfly feeder by a small liquid puddle and this should be included in your design.

Host plants are needed if you want butterflies to lay eggs in your garden. Butterflies lay their eggs on the host plants because they provide food for the caterpillars. You also should not use any pesticides, as they will kill the butterflies. You can plant herbs, marigolds, mint and petunias to rebel pests instead of spraying pesticides.

Certain host plants will attract specific butterflies the following are some host plant and butterfly pairings; the Willow and Red Spotted Purple, Black Cherry and Tiger Swallowtail, Pawpaw and Zebra Swallowtail, Spicebush and Spicebush Swallowtail, Hop Tree and Giant Swallowtail, Senna and Cloudless Sulphur, Fennel and Black Swallowtail, and Milkweed and the Monarch.

You can gather any information you may need about butterflies and butterfly gardens on the Internet, at libraries, butterfly houses, garden centers and nurseries, zoos, butterfly gardens and botanical gardens. You need to get the correct information for your area, as there will be plants that may be suited to your climate and soil better than others. - 13506