Magnificent butterflies are essential for maintaining ecological balance in nature and in our gardens. Butterflies are of great importance as many plants depend on these insects to ensure their pollination and thus produce seeds and fruit.
To attract butterflies, the plants bear very colorful flowers that secrete a substance called nectar made of water and sugar. The vast majority of butterflies feed on the nectar of these flowers. In addition, some butterfly species quench their thirst by drinking tree sap, as well as liquids from animal feces or animal carcasses. This gives them the nutrients they don’t find in nectar.
Photo courtesy of Britannica
The population of North American monarchs has declined by 90% over the past 20 years. While almost a billion individuals wintered in Mexico in 1996, by 2013 there were only 33 million. There is hope, however, because according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), there were around 145 million individuals in 2016 -the 2022 season saw a 35% increase in the area of the monarch’s wintering range in Mexico.
How to dress them?
The best way to encourage butterflies to visit your garden is to create a bed of nectar-rich flowering plants.
Since butterflies have difficulty flying when it is windy, it is advisable to set up a butterfly bed in a very sunny spot, sheltered from the prevailing winds, on the north-west side of a hedge, a bush with dense foliage or a fence covered with climbing plants.
In addition, butterflies seek quiet places where they can be undisturbed while foraging. Therefore, it is preferable to keep such development away from roads, sidewalks and parking lots and playgrounds. Your flower bed must also be clearly visible from the windows of your home if you want to take full advantage of the spectacle. Finally, after putting so much effort into attracting butterflies, you should avoid killing them by using unnecessary pesticides.
In addition to planting flowers that butterflies love in your garden, you can also attract them with a sweet substance made from ripe bananas, molasses, brown sugar, and beer sprinkled on logs and rocks.
You also need to provide water for the butterflies you want to attract into your home. A simple tray filled with perpetually soaked or damp sand will usually suffice.
Photo courtesy of Albert Mondor
The hummingbird hawkmoth has a long proboscis that allows it to collect nectar from flowers with deep corollas in full flight, like a hummingbird.
irresistible plants
Although many flowering plants produce nectar, butterflies are more attracted to some plants. Their location, shape, color, and smell are factors that can affect the frequency and duration of butterfly visits. It seems that flowers with deep corollas and flowers of blue, violet or mauve colour, such as those of Buddleia, Purple Echinacea or Rough Liatrid, are particularly prized by several butterfly species. In any case, an arrangement with a wide variety of flower colors and shapes will be more appealing to the butterflies.
In attracting butterflies into your home, you must also learn to tolerate caterpillars, because one doesn’t come without the other. The caterpillars are very selective, feeding on a single plant species from a small group of very specific plants. This is especially true of the monarch caterpillar, which feeds exclusively on the leaves of the milkweed.
Photo courtesy of Albert Mondor
The cecropia moth is the largest butterfly found in eastern Canada. This nocturnal species has a digestive system and a proboscis, but these are atrophied and unable to feed. As an adult, this butterfly has no other goal than to mate and lay eggs. The Cecropia Lead Poisoner is therefore doomed to die of starvation in a period that rarely exceeds two weeks.
Here are five perennials to plant in your garden whose flowers produce copious amounts of nectar that butterflies particularly appreciate.
Photo courtesy of Albert Mondor
spurge
spurge
Height: 70cm
Width: 45cm
Flowers: orange from late July to September
Sunshine: sun
Soil: Adapts to various types of poor, dry, well-drained soils
Hardiness: hardy perennial in zone 3b
Photo courtesy of Albert Mondor
rough liatrid
rough liatrid
Height: 1.20 m
Width: 45cm
Flowers: violet from early September to mid-October
Sunshine: sun
Soil: light, moderately rich and well-drained
Hardiness: hardy perennial in zone 4
Photo courtesy of Albert Mondor
purple echinacea
purple echinacea
Height: 90cm
Width: 60cm
Flowering: pink from July to September
Sunshine: Sun, partial shade
Soil: Adapts to a variety of cool but well-drained soil types
Hardiness: hardy perennial in zone 3
Photo courtesy of Albert Mondor
giant vernonia
giant vernonia
Height: 3.50 m
Width: 1.20 m
Flowers: purple-pink in September and October
Sunshine: Sun, partial shade
Soil: moderately rich and moist
Hardiness: hardy perennial in zone 5
Photo courtesy of Secret Gardens
Fennel Agastache
Fennel Agastache
Height: 90cm
Width: 40cm
Flowers: violet-blue from July to September
Sunshine: Sun, partial shade
Soil: moderately rich in nutrients, light and well-drained
Hardiness: hardy perennial in zone 4