Tips for more butterflies in your garden

• Posted on 30 April 2025
• By Annelies
• 0

Butterflies fluttering around your garden makes you happy! But how do you convince them to choose your garden? If you want to enjoy the presence of butterflies, you can adjust your garden to attract them. Here are some tips to attract butterflies to your garden and keep them there.

Butterflies fluttering around your garden makes you happy! But how do you convince them to choose your garden? If you want to enjoy the presence of butterflies, you can adjust your garden to attract them. Here are some tips to attract butterflies to your garden and keep them there.

How do you attract butterflies to your garden?

The plants below attract butterflies because of their nectar-rich flowers.

- Butterfly Bush (Buddleja): This shrub is known for its long flowering clusters that attract butterflies. It is particularly popular with the Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock Butterfly, and Atlanta Butterfly.

- Lavender: The fragrant flowers of lavender are not only loved by humans, but also by butterflies, such as the Brimstone and Small Butterfly.

- Verbena: Verbena produces numerous small flowers that provide an abundance of nectar, making it a favorite choice for butterflies such as the Comma and Painted Lady.

- Sunflowers: These iconic flowers with their large, bright yellow flower heads attract several species of butterflies, including the Comma and the Large Cabbage White. The sunflower is a perfect addition to your butterfly garden.

- Sedum: The dense clusters of flowers on sedum plants are an excellent food source for butterflies, especially in late summer and fall.

- Phlox: Phlox attracts a wide variety of butterflies, from small species such as Painted Ladies to larger species such as the Comma.

- Lantana: This plant Lantana produces flowers continuously throughout the growing season and attracts butterflies such as Hummingbird Hawk-Moths and Swallowtails.

In addition to these plants, there are many other flowers and herbs that attract butterflies, such as salvia, verbena, honeysuckle and yarrow. It is ideal to choose a mix of these plants with different flowering periods to attract butterflies all season long.

Preserving your butterfly paradise

To keep butterflies in your garden, it is important to create a hospitable environment that meets their needs during all stages of their life cycle. Here are some steps to keep butterflies in your garden:

- Provide a variety of plants: Provide a variety of plants that provide nectar for adult butterflies and provide host plants on which butterflies can lay their eggs and caterpillars can feed. As mentioned earlier, choose plants with different blooming periods to attract butterflies throughout the season.

- Maintain natural habitats: Leave areas of your garden natural and undisturbed, such as wildflower meadows, grasslands, and shrubs. These natural habitats provide food sources and shelter for butterflies.

- Avoid pesticides: Pesticides can be harmful to butterflies, both in their adult and larval stages. Avoid using pesticides in your garden and opt for natural pest control methods instead.

- Provide water: Place shallow bowls of water in various areas of your garden for butterflies to drink. Add some rocks as landing sites so that butterflies can easily reach the water.

- Create shelters: Provide shrubs, trees, and rockeries where butterflies can rest and find shelter from wind and rain. Also leave some parts of your garden untouched, such as dead wood or grass areas, which serve as a place for butterflies to hibernate.

- Maintain your garden regularly: Remove dead leaves and twigs to maintain a shelter for butterflies. In addition, keep plants healthy by regularly removing weeds and pruning when necessary.

By following these steps, you will create a pleasant environment for butterflies to stay in your garden, while also helping to preserve these beautiful insects!