Gardening Design Zone

By Lee Dobbins

One way to add dimension to your garden is to plant plenty of flowers that attract butterflies. There’s nothing so beautiful as to see these delicate winged creatures sailing around in your garden. Proper planning will ensure that you attract plenty of them as well as provide a safe place for butterflies.

The actual design of your garden is actually of little importance to the butterfly. Planting flowers that they are attracted to will help bring them in as will some water – you may even think about adding some butterfly houses to make your garden that much more attractive. Some things to consider in your butterfly gardening design are the size of your garden and the types of flowers and plants you want to grow. Pick a style of garden that you like and ensure it contains the plants and flowers that appeal to the butterflies you wish to attract.

Of course, one of the key things to think about when planning a butterfly garden is what species of butterfly lives in your are and what types you want to attract It is important to do thorough research on exactly which plants and flowers will attract these species of butterflies. Once you work out this decision and decide which types of butterflies you want flying around and visiting your home, then simply create your butterfly gardening plan around those species.

Although the butterflies don’t really care how your garden is planted, you probably do so it is important to coordinate the colors you choose for your flower beds. You want to avoid having your butterfly garden looking like a hodgepodge of unrelated colors and textures that could create confusion to you and maybe even the butterflies.

One way to come up with a good butterfly garden design is to draw and color a layout of your butterfly garden plan to see what it will look like when finished. Keep in mind that warm colors like red and orange are flashy and showy. These colors have a greater impact against a strong green background. Cool colors such as blue and purple are soothing and toned down and would work better with a white contrast to create the look of freshness and brightness.

Some of the plants you might think about including in your garden include Milkweed, Honeysuckle, Day Lilies, Lavendar, Yellow Sage, Valerian, Sunflower, Daisies, Purple Coneflower, Summer Lilac

Lee Dobbins writes about home and garden topics. To learn more about attracting hummingbirds and butterflies to your garden, please visit Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardens and check out their database of articles on butterflies and hummingbirds.