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LIFE: HOMES
Butterfly gardens add beauty, boost environment
A Cabbage White butterfly feeds on a Salvia flower in Carol Southby's Penfield, N.Y., garden on Monday, July 7, 2008. The garden is filled with plants that are ideal for attracting butterflies.
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Butterflies flutter from the tiny purple petals of the Johnny-jump-ups to the freckled faces of the tiger lilies in Carol Southby's Penfield, N.Y., garden.
Edged with woodlands and fleshed out in clover-studded lawn, Southby's yard has been occupied almost entirely with plants that create an ideal ecosystem in which butterflies can thrive. Southby, a butterfly gardener for nearly 20 years, says of the 75 species of butterflies in Monroe County, N.Y., she has seen more than 40 in her own yard.
"It starts out as just fun with pretty butterflies and pretty flowers, but actually, there is a science behind it -- there is a lot more going on than you first thought there would be," says Southby, who is also president of the Rochester (N.Y.) Butterfly Club.
Butterflies "have a very important role to play out in the environment," says Ryan Loysen, conservation education coordinator at the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester.
Habitat loss and pollution caused by human activity are the biggest challenges butterflies face, Loysen says.
In return for creating an environment in which these creatures can thrive, butterflies will pollinate plants and support the food chain.
Consider these tips when choosing plants to create the ideal environment for butterflies:
Pursue diversity
As long as there is sunlight readily available, most flowers will attract butterflies to feed on their sweet nectar. But if there aren't proper plants to sustain a butterfly throughout its life cycle, you might only see a few flutters every now and then.
That means there is no one answer, but striving for diversity in your garden is key.
Beware of some plants, such as purple loosestrife and black swallowwort, which will choke out other plants and can even be poisonous to some butterflies, says Grace Canham, a master gardener at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County.
Another reason why a diverse range of plants can be important is that although people tend to think of butterflies only in the summer, they can appear as early as March, and they never all disappear.
Butterfly gardeners also need to be willing to put up with sometimes messy-looking plants that are being devoured by caterpillars.
"The way people garden, there is this idea that caterpillars are bad, and yet without caterpillars, we wouldn't have butterflies," Southby says.
Watch and learn
Like most butterfly enthusiasts, Southby acquired most of her knowledge about butterflies by observing them and then consulting books to try to piece together what she had seen.
"Just experiment and have fun," Southby says, offering her advice for new gardeners. "Try growing different plants and see what comes to them."
It doesn't take a lot of land, either. Even a few plants in a window box can attract a butterfly, Southby says.
Having a pond or a birdbath is another good way to attract butterflies to your garden that are ready to breed, says Derek Kellogg, an entomologist at Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester. Male butterflies will drink from the water to achieve the right minerals and salts necessary for reproduction through a process called puddling.
"Aside from having something for them to drink from, you want to make sure you have some shelter for them, a place for them to basically roost upon," Kellogg says.
It's also mandatory to avoid pesticides -- even organic ones -- entirely because butterflies are insects, and as with other insects, pesticides will kill them. Southby recommends taking some gloves with you out to the garden to pick off pests individually and drown them in a lidded jar of soapy water as soon you notice them.
Enjoy the experience
Butterfly gardening has numerous rewards. In addition to the joy of gardening, providing habitat for butterflies and having the opportunity to observe them can be a healing activity.
Enthusiasts such as Southby and Canham recommend taking photos of the butterflies you see and buying a good field guide to use as a reference book.
In addition, gardening "gets us outside doing something, cultivating something, engaging ourselves with the environment around us, and that is hugely important for our health," says Kellogg.
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