People who watch birds most likely also enjoy seeing the beautiful, graceful butterflies.
Where there are flowers, there should be butterflies. Where there are birds, there
should be flowers.
Unfortunately, the birds also like to prey upon the butterflies and their caterpillars. The
food chain of nature does make this a normal occurrence. So, the more butterflies you
attract, the more predators you'll attract. But if you plan for this, you can still manage
to have a large butterfly population and be able to enjoy watching some of the
predators as well. If you keep food out for your birds, they'll eat less butterflies.
Thick brush gives the butterflies shelter from the rain and gives the caterpillars a place
to pupate. Butterflies like windbreaks, edges, and layers; they also like sun to warm
their little bodies and places to perch while they sun themselves.
You'll need larvae food plants to lure the females into the garden to lay her eggs. It
takes about six weeks for the insect to morph. She lays eggs on a host plant that's then
eaten by the caterpillars, which attaches to the stem or branch while it changes from
chrysalis to gentle butterfly.
Butterfly watching can be more fun if you have a bountiful supply of them at your own
home property. Legumes, mint, parsley, violets, pansies, and flowers from the daisy
family are all great choices to help attract and feed your butterflies.
Butterfly watching is a seasonal activity unless you travel to other places when they
decide to migrate. You can enjoy their company year-round if you keep a home that
allows them to flourish and provides the proper temperature and food sources. They'll
need plenty of room to fly, too. The area must be kept as natural as possible to
maintain their optimum health.
You can buy butterfly gardens in a kit to help you get a start on your own collection of
butterflies. These kits are sold for $20 and contain a habitat, a certificate, larvae,
special food, and instructions. Please don't think you can just buy any butterfly kit,
then turn them out into the wild or into the city and expect them to survive. The
environment where you release them must contain the proper food sources, climate,
and protection from predators.
You can also buy wild-flower seeds specifically for your region. The different regions
include the Northeast, West, Southeast, Northwest, Midwest, and Southwest parts of the
United States. Of course, butterflies survive and thrive in different parts of the worlds
as well. A mix for all regions of North America costs from $19 to $27 per pound in some
places. You can purchase butterfly bushes at $8 per bush. Fruit trees can cost $20 per
starter tree and up.
You don't need a big yard to have a butterfly garden. You can create a small one on your
patio if you live in an apartment. It can be as large or as small as you choose to make
it, but remember that the bigger the area, the better your chances and the more
butterflies you'll be able to enjoy.
