We've had a bevy of beautiful butterflies in our backyard over the last week or so. (Say that five times fast.) And I've bored at least two captive audiences with my butterfly/caterpillar tales over the last couple of days Time to get it out of my system and blog about it. I'm turning into a real lepidopterist...aka butterfly nerd.I don't know what it is that attracts me to these winged bugs. Something about seeing them float through our backyard is peaceful. And exciting at the same time. And it's stunning to think that really ugly caterpillars can turn into such graceful beauties.
So I've been excited to see lots of these fluttering around. And this. And even this caterpillar munching on a plant in our alleyway. Want to join me in my lepidopteric nerdiness? Here are some tips.
Make sure and feed the caterpillars.
Yes, the butterflies are beautiful enough fluttering around your flower beds, but to attract even more, give mama butterfly a place to lay her eggs. Butterflies are finicky about what they eat as caterpillars. So you have to give them what they're looking for. Plants from the cabbage and mustard family for cabbage whites. (I buy several of the ornamental cabbages available in nurseries at the end of the winter and plant them in pots just for these pale green worms to devour. And they eat me out of house and home.) Passionvine for fritillaries. Parsley and dill for swallowtails. (I've finally been rewarded after years of dill planting with a crop of caterpillars this year.) Even obscure plants like pipevine for the obsessively particular pipevine swallowtail. I sometimes wonder if butterflies are like salmon--tending to hang around where they were born and returning to their birthplace during their brief two week lifespans to leave the next generation to grow and reproduce. Certainly hope so.
Flowers are important.
Obviously, nectar from a variety of flowers form the basis of the adult butterflies diet. And there are many perennials that are easy to plant and grow that will have butterflies lining up for the buffet for years to come. Purple coneflower. Lantana. Gregg's mist. I've discovered they have a particular affinity for the autumn-flowering frostweed. If you have a sunny patch in your yard that you can let go "wild" with Mexican hat and false sunflower, all the better. Get out there and Google for others suitable for your area.
But they like fruit too.
Some butterflies actually don't visit flowers, but get their nutrition from rotting things. Carrion and dung. (Yuck.) And softening fruit. We've attracted a whole new batch of butterflies by putting pieces of banana, grapefruit and apple in saucers. Try it and see what happens.
Learn your stuff.
If you're as obsessive as I am, you'll get a lot of pleasure by identifying what you have coming to visit you. Buy a book like this and keep a running tally of what you see. You'll be amazed at the variety you've managed to attract. And the resources will give you even more ideas of what to plant.
Take the opportunity to get the kids involved.
Kids love bugs. And they'll love the opportunity to observe the transformation that these particular bugs go through as they go from egg to caterpillar to pupa to butterfly. You can even get butterfly habitats that you can put a plant in once the caterpillars are munching. Keeps them "captive" so you can watch each stage of their life cycle. (Confession: I have a small one with a 4-inch dill plant (complete with fat swallowtail caterpillar) on our kitchen counter as we speak. Can't wait to see the butterfly emerge after it pupates so that I can release it into our great wild backyard...)
If you live in North Texas, this is the perfect time to get started. Not only is the weather ideal, but, this weekend you can stock up on a variety of nectar and host plants at Fair Park's Discovery Garden's Butterfly Plant Sale. Lots of butterfly experts will be on hand to give you great advice on how to bring the fluttering masses to your home habitat.
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