Lay out the welcome mat for butterflies

Perhaps nothing in the garden is quite as fascinating as butterflies. Their brightly colored wings take on a rainbow of colors as they flit from flower to flower gathering nectar and, in some cases, pollinating the flowers they visit.

Watching butterflies is becoming an increasingly popular hobby, and many gardeners — both here and across the country — are planting gardens with these jewels of the sky in mind.

Butterfly gardens do not happen by accident. Butterflies seek two things from gardens or native plantings: food and shelter. A successful garden provides both.

Nectar-producing flowers are filled with sweet liquids that many insects, including butterflies, use as food. Adult females also look for host plants on which to lay eggs. These plants provide food for the caterpillars that will turn into butterflies. (This is the dark side of butterfly gardening. I am surprised at the number of gardeners who do not realize that the immature stage of the butterfly is a voracious caterpillar that often feeds on their plants.)

Both nectar producing-flowers and plants for the caterpillars to feed on are essential for a successful butterfly garden. Use these general guidelines to attract nectar feeders to your garden.

Start with the right flower colors. Many native butterflies prefer plants with pink, red, purple, yellow or orange flowers. Butterflies are attracted to large masses of a single color, or closely related colors.

Next look at the flower types. Most butterflies must land to get to the nectar. Plants with clusters of short tubular flowers or flowers with large, flat petals are much easier for the butterflies to land on.

Another important aspect of successful butterfly gardening is to keep something in bloom all season long. Butterflies are active from early spring through frost, so selecting a mix of plants that flower throughout the growing season attracts more butterflies.

Favorite butterfly-attracting perennials include bee-balm (Monarda didyma), butterfly bush, (Buddleia davidii), butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) and dozens of other possible choices.

Plants that are attractive as foods to caterpillars are usually a different group. Selecting the right plant species is critical. Newly hatched caterpillars cannot travel far to feed, so the female only lays her eggs on plants that the caterpillars use as food.