Question: I would like to start a butterfly garden with my kids but I am not sure if my sunny back yard will have everything they need. Can you give me some tips for starting this garden? —Amy L., Athens
Answer: A sunny yard is a great place to start butterfly gardening. It is recommended to provide your butterflies and their larvae with nectar-producing plants, larval food plants and a shallow pool of water. The nectar-producing plants provide food for the adult butterflies. The link below has a list of trees, shrubs, wildflowers, perennials and annuals that produce nectar for the butterflies you will be attracting. Some common butterfly-attracting plants you may already have in your garden include butterfly bush, lantana, purple coneflower, sunflowers, pentas, single marigolds, verbena and zinnias.
Once you have plants to attract the adult butterflies don’t forget about the larvae. The caterpillars need food and habitat to thrive. Tall grasses and native wildflowers are a great food source and should only be mown in the late fall. Some of the best foods include willow, milkweed, passion vine, parsley and asters.
The last crucial element to a butterfly garden is a shallow water source. A clay saucer filled with wet sand or mud with a rock in the center as a resting spot is a great water source for your beginner butterfly gardening.
Find the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension publication on butterfly gardening here: bit.ly/Jvg0PN
And, read the publication “Beyond Butterflies: Gardening for Native Pollinators”: bit.ly/LW1hAZ
• Send your agricultural or natural resources questions to Amanda Tedrow, Athens-Clarke County Extension agent, at firstname.lastname@example.org or call (706) 613-3640.