Butterfly Gardening

Lesson 1: Butterflies

The Butterfly Gardener's Guide

Suggested reading:
The Butterfly Gardener's Guide by Claire Hagen Dole ISBN: 1889538582

Publisher: Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 2003

I garden.

I am an avid gardener. There are many reasons why I enjoy working on my own plots as well as helping others enhance their property.

For me, one of the joys of being a gardener, is waking up on a late Spring or early Summer morning; here in Thunder Bay, this is usually, late June or early July, and watching your garden come alive.

Now, we all know that there is a lot of living going on over night but most of us are asleep then. As the sun warms the garden, the butterflies, and other members of the garden community, begin to stir. One of the sights that always brightens my day is watching the butterflies gracefully float from flower to flower. They are in pursuit of food, nectar from the plants you have planted. The proper plant selection will make all the difference.

Pollination

These essential pollinators are not just another pretty face. They perform a valuable service. Their moving from plant to plant, as they feed, encourages plant development. This cooperative relationship is one reason a thoughtfully designed garden can thrive.

When you know what butterflies are native to where you live and what they like to eat and what plants they will use for a home for their eggs, you are well on your way, to creating a lasting butterfly habitat and making your garden a delightful place to spend some time.

The Butterfly Gardener's Guide is the suggested text for this course. If you can borrow it from a library or purchase it, read the first chapter before you begin Lesson Two.

You increase your chances of success when you develop a plan, especially when you write it, or draw it, on paper using a good pencil with a pencil sharpener and an eraser handy.

Do not worry about how well you can draw. This is not a contest or a test. What you need to get down on paper is a plan. What shape will the garden be? How big? What plants will you use? Where on your property will the garden go? These are some of the questions you will answer. The plan enables you at a glance to see what you want and need to do.

You can share this information with your spouse or landscaper so that anyone who is working in your garden will know what you have in mind.

The plan serves as your reference point as the work progresses. When you write it down, you do not have to rely on memory to recall what it is you wanted to achieve. Of course, just because you put it on paper does not mean that it cannot be changed. That is one reason to use a pencil.

Changes are easy to make.

  1  2  3  4