You can grow a butterfly garden anywhere in the United States. Butterfly gardens are designed to contain specific plants and flowers that attract butterflies. The garden can encompass several acres to just a few containers. You want to particularly focus on nectar producing plants.

Butterfly gardens should contain nectar plants, get a lot of sun, already have a local native butterfly source and fauna, be pesticide free, and contain host plants. North America contains many butterfly attractive plants that are native. These plants don’t need any special treatment and will thrive with only a small amount of attention. The best time to plant your garden is the spring. This will give the plants time to be in full power the next year.

Nectar sources are important and your butterfly garden should contain a few different varieties of nectar producing plants. You will attract many more types of butterflies this way compared to only have one type of nectar producing plant. This encourages the butterflies to lay their eggs in your garden and within 6 of weeks you should notice the birth of the new butterflies.

Zinnia’s, Vervin, Blazing Star, Swamp Milkweed, Purple Coneflower, New England Aster, French Marigold, Lantana, Joe-Pye Weed, Ironweed, Egyptian Star Flower, Butterfly Weed, Butterfly Bush, Black-Eyed Susan and Azaleas are all plants that attract butterflies.

You should plant your butterfly plants in full sun areas, as the plants need the sun to grow and produce nectar. Butterflies also need the sun so that they can warm up their body. Butterflies are attracted to strong scents and color. You want to use nectar producing plants as well as colorful plants. Butterflies can see color and they prefer dark pink, purple, yellow, orange and red. The color encourages the butterflies to stick around.

Butterflies also enjoy puddles and will frequently congregate at small puddles. It is easy to make small permanent puddles in your garden. You should use sweet liquids like sweet drinks, stale beer and water. Butterflies like sweet foods so you c an encourage them to congregate by leaving overripe fruit by the puddles as well. Butterflies like to feed off of overripe fruit.

Host plants are needed if you want butterflies to lay eggs in your garden. Butterflies lay their eggs on the host plants because they provide food for the caterpillars. You also should not use any pesticides, as they will kill the butterflies. You can plant herbs, marigolds, mint and petunias to rebel pests instead of spraying pesticides.

Certain host plants will attract specific butterflies the following are some host plant and butterfly pairings; the Willow and Red Spotted Purple, Black Cherry and Tiger Swallowtail, Pawpaw and Zebra Swallowtail, Spicebush and Spicebush Swallowtail, Hop Tree and Giant Swallowtail, Senna and Cloudless Sulphur, Fennel and Black Swallowtail, and Milkweed and the Monarch.

You can find information on butterfly houses and butterflies from garden centers and nurseries, libraries, butterfly gardens, botanical gardens, butterfly houses, and on the Internet.

It’s not difficult to have a beautiful garden that attracts butterflies! Visit http://www.homebutterflygarden.com for more home butterfly garden tips.