Marathon Butterfly Garden at Kiawah

Gardening for Butterflies

Butterflies, their jeweled wings dancing gracefully in the wind, bring a desired liveliness and color to gardens. By growing the right plants, you open a magic window to observe the nature in your backyard on a finer scale. Beginning a garden to attract hungry butterflies is fairly simple. A novice can create a basic garden rapidly and experienced gardeners need only shift their focus slightly to attract butterflies. As your garden grows, you'll become aware of the numerous creatures that seek food and shelter in your trees, shrubs, flowers, and soil.

Starting Out

The plot chosen for our Marathon garden was barren land spotted with a jumble of non-native shrubs. The habitat value of this area was nearly non-existent, obviously by a lack of wildlife frequenting the space. Fortunately, Kiawah Island Golf Resort has a team of biologists, landscapers and educators with extensive knowledge on native wildlife and their habitat requirements; so choosing native plants for our garden was a simple process. 

First, take stock of what you have. If you have been watching birds in your yard, you know in which trees the orioles nest, or how the hummingbirds cherish your trumpet vine. Make a list of birds, butterflies and other wildlife and the landscape features they frequent.  

The essence of butterfly gardening is to plant perennial and annual flowers that are sources of nectar and the herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees that provide food for the butterfly's larvae. The pivotal step is deciding to stop waging chemical warfare in the garden. Butterfly gardeners learn to view partially eaten leaves differently when they discover that the feasting caterpillar soon becomes a beautiful butterfly.  

Bear in mind that larger gardens containing natural habitats such as woodland, thicket, or meadow will attract the broadest diversity of local butterflies. Butterfly life cycles depend on many factors beyond your control and butterflies themselves cannot be confined or trained. Their visits remain unpredictable, always a small gift of nature.

Succeeding years of butterfly gardening, however, can be increasingly rewarding. The longer a nectar source is established, the more butterflies are likely to visit. If you become enchanted by the theater of biology in your backyard, you can expand and elaborate on the butterfly garden each year by adding shrubs, larval food sources, and native plants. The choices cover a range broad enough to keep the most sophisticated gardener engaged for years.

Get to Know the Butterfly Life Cycle

A butterfly’s (or moth’s) life occurs in four stages, spanning an astonishing spectrum of change. The egg, which has a tough shell to protect the developing embryo within, comes in many sizes and shapes depending on the species. From the egg hatches the larva (a caterpillar), which can be dull or colorful, large or small, and bear horns or spines. Caterpillars have voracious appetites.
 
After 3-6 weeks, during which the larva outgrows and sheds four skins, it begins the pupal stage. In most cases it forms a chrysalis, which is frequently suspended from a leaf or twig. After one or two weeks of pupal development, the adult butterfly or moth breaks open the chrysalis and emerges. It pumps fluid into the veins in its wings, the wings harden and dry, and metamorphosis is complete.

With the aid of quality field guides, you can learn to recognize the eggs and larvae of specific butterflies and moths. Field guides will also list the plants they visit for nectar, those the females choose for egg-laying, and those that provide food for the caterpillars. If you're just beginning a butterfly garden, this information will be invaluable for choosing the right plants to grow.

Choosing Your Plants

For your first butterfly garden, you may want to concentrate on planting sources of nectar, leaving larval food plants for another year. If you've observed butterflies in your area, you'll have a good idea of which plants to grow. If not, consult a local nature center or your county extension agent. Butterfly gardening books also provide plant lists. If you're not sure which butterflies inhabit your area, plant a selection of butterfly attractors and keep track of who turns up.

Set the plants in sunny places, well protected from the wind. Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature falls below a certain level; you'll often observe them basking in the sun to warm their muscles for flight. Butterflies also gather around water, so a birdbath, pool, or large clay saucer will provide another opportunity for closer observation.

Your garden's design - the plant arrangement and color grouping - is up to you. Butterflies are just as happy with a hodgepodge of plants as with an elegant composition. Some design principles, however, serve both aesthetic and butterfly watching ends.  Grouping several plants of the same species together concentrates sources of nectar, as well as establishing major blocks of color.  Arranging plants by size can lend grace to the garden's structure and makes flowers and butterflies easier to see. Place large shrubs or trees in the background, with tall flowering plants immediately in front of them, intermediate-size plants next, low growing plants at the front, and edging plants at the borders. You can plant butterfly attractors among your vegetables or in borders around vegetables. Create small hedgerows between your beds or around your back or front yard, you can fill any unused flower bed space with butterfly-attracting plants.

Plants used in our Marathon Garden include
Aster – Aster hybrida ‘Dragon’ & Erigeron karvinskianus  ‘Profusion’
Bee Balm – Monarda didyma
Black Eyed Susan –Rudbeckia hirta ‘Radiance’
Blanket Flower– Gaillardia grandiflora ‘Oranges and Lemons’ & ‘Goblin’
Butterfly Weed (Tropical)–Asclepias curassavica
Butterfly Bush –Buddleia davidii ‘White Eyes’ & ‘Royal Red’
Cone Flower–Echinacea purpurea ‘Bravado’ & ‘Sunrise’
Coreopsis –Coreopsis verticillata ‘Crème Brulee’
Dill- Anethum graveolens ‘Bouquet’
Fennel- Foeniculum vulgare ‘Smokey’
Gerbera Daisy –Gerbera jamesonii  ‘Festival’
Globe amaranth- Gomphrena  globosa
Goldenrod – Solidago hybrid  ‘Little Lemon’
Hibiscus – Hibiscus coccinea ‘Alba’
Lantana – Lantana camara ‘New Gold’, ‘Red Spread’ & ‘Lucky’
Mexican Sage –Salvia leucantha ‘Purple on Purple’
Passion Flower – Passiflora incarnata ‘White’
Salvia –Salvia gaurantica ‘Black and Blue’
Spider Flower–Cleome hasslerana ‘Sparkler’
Yarrow - Achillea millefolium ‘Wonderful  Wampee’

Water Conservation

For our green initiatives, water conservation was a primary goal. Consequently, for our garden we chose a drip irrigation system. This system is a series of buried hoses with holes that allow you to target to water directly to the plant roots. Water is not wasted because the dripping occurs only where the plants are stationed. Sprinklers, in contrast, spray water into the air first, before it ever reaches the ground.

Keep It Going

When you're ready to plant your second butterfly garden, you’ll probably have the advantage of knowing the names and habits of the butterflies that came the previous year. With that in mind, you may want to research and plant larval food plants, which will attract some of the local egg-laying female butterflies. With diligent observation and good luck, you may be able to see caterpillars pupating and perhaps witness a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis in your own garden.

As you're planting, begin to think of your garden as a habitat. Certain plants are part of the food chain for the butterflies and other creatures you're trying to attract.  Learn to accept chewed leaves. Butterfly gardens also include trees and shrubs that provide larval food. As your interest increases, make room for these and expand your selection of larger butterfly-attracting shrubs, such as a butterfly bush (Buddleia Davidii).  

For the minimal amount of time and effort required, butterfly gardening offers considerable rewards. It can brighten your surroundings and alert you to the biological intricacies of the world. Summer gardens are immeasurably enhanced by the colorful patterns and carefree, roller-coaster flights of these four-winged creatures.