“I want to plant a butterfly garden with my kids, do you have any suggestions?!”
Our pollinators are not just butterflies. Most of the work is done by the flower flies, bees and wasps. So when you see an insect on a garden plant, please don’t think it is a ‘bad bug’. Most of our insects, pretty and ugly, have very important jobs in our gardens, and should be enjoyed as much as the Monarch butterfly.
- Plant as many different plants as you can. Use flowering bulbs, annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs. Each one may attract a different insect, but they are all important
- Look for flowers that need to be deadheaded. That means nectar and pollen- both food for many insects
- Plan to have flowers from April til October.
- Look for insects at different times each day, especially early morning. Be excited about every insect you find. They all have a job -it might be being food for another insect or pollinating a flower
- So many plants: Hibiscus, lantana, lavender, leucanthemum, parsley, cellpak petunias, salvia, tomatoes, veronica and many more
Yours in foliage,
Thelma Kessel
