Tip of the Week: Favorite Plants for Butterflies, Caterpillars
Posted in Gardening Tips on July 26 2010, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
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Sonia Uyterhoeven is Gardener for Public Education. Join her each weekend for home gardening demonstrations on a variety of topics in the Home Gardening Center. July 31 and August 1 she will present Butterfly Bonanza. |
Last week I talked about the life cycle of butterflies and how you can create a garden with features important to caterpillars as well as adult butterflies. Today we’ll look at some of the plants that both prefer.
When designing a butterfly garden, first find out the kinds of butterflies you can expect to see in your area so that you’ll know what you need to attract them into your garden. Shop in the Garden and the LuEsther T. Mertz Library have a wonderful collection of books on the subject.
Some of the common butterflies you will find in the New York area are the spicebush swallowtail, black swallowtail, eastern tiger swallowtail, monarch, viceroy, clouded sulphur, buckeye, spring azure, and pearl crescent.
Good nectar sources for regional butterflies are lilacs (Syringa), clover (Trifolium), chives (Allium), cosmos (Cosmos), zinnias (Zinnia), lavender (Lavandula), catmint (Nepeta), milkweed (Asclepias), mint (Mentha), bee balm (Monarda), blazing star (Liatris), phlox (Phlox), anise hyssop (Agastache), bugbane (Cimicifuga), butterfly bush (Buddleja), summersweet (Clethra), blue mist shrub (Caryopteris), and glossy abelia (Abelia).