Butterfly Gardens and Happiness
butterfly garden by Jan Johnsen |
Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
And this is why a butterfly garden should be in everyone's life. In the photo above, I planted 'Lucky White' Lantana and purple Callibrachoa to attract the summer butterflies....they love lantana!
Also perennial coneflowers, agastache, bee balm, and many more are butterfly attractors. These all have nectar, a butterfly's delight. So if you have a sunny open spot, some shelter from wind and fresh water (butterfly puddles) then plant some butterfly flowers and enjoy a bit of happiness.
I have to run off to work but I did want to leave you with a wonderful butterfly garden plant list from the Farmer's Almanac:
Common Name | Latin Name |
---|---|
Allium | Allium |
Aster | Aster |
Bee balm | Monarda |
Butterfly bush | Buddleia |
Catmint | Nepeta |
Clove Pink | Dianthus |
Cornflower | Centaurea |
Daylily | Hemerocallis |
False indigo | Baptisia |
Fleabane | Erigeron |
Floss flower | Ageratum |
Globe thistle | Echinops |
Goldenrod | Solidago |
Helen's flower | Helenium |
Hollyhock | Alcea |
Lavender | Lavendula |
Lilac | Syringa |
Lupine | Lupinus |
Lychnis | Lychnis |
Mallow | Malva |
Milkweed | Asclepias |
Mint | Mentha |
Pansy | Viola |
Phlox | Phlox |
Privet | Ligustrum |
Purple coneflower | Echinacea |
Rock cress | Arabis |
Sage | Salvia |
Sea holly | Eryngium |
Shasta daisy | Chrysanthemum |
Snapdragon | Antirrhinum |
Stonecrop | Sedum |
Sweet alyssum | Lobularia |
Sweet rocket | Hesperis |
Tickseed | Coreopsis |
Zinnia | Zinnia |
How beautiful, I love butterflies!
ReplyDeleteopen house for butterflies!
DeleteIn my view every garden should be a butterfly magnet cause without them a garden is not complete.
ReplyDeleteexactly!
DeleteSo important to use the right plants to encourage butterflies....
ReplyDeleteGardens beauty, tranquil .....once you've done the hard work of digging, weeding, planting but the rewards are so worth it.
All the best Jan
Thanks! and I agree wholeheartedly!
Delete