Guest post by Emily Johnson*
Butterflies are attracted naturally to beautiful gardens, but there are many ways you can encourage a greater number of these charming visitors to frequent your garden. Here’s what to plant to attract butterflies to your garden.
Asters
Looking the prettiest in a shade of pale violet, these plants are perfect for hot weather. They can withstand strong sun, and don’t wilt during droughts.
Centaurea
These plants are good at attracting butterflies too, by virtue of their vibrant colouring and heavy nectar supply, both of which are beneficial to butterflies. Watch them bloom in May and June, their most productive months of the year!
Butterfly Bush
These energetic butterfly attractors are as persistently lovely as the butterflies themselves. These are brightly coloured in lavender, with sweet smell and profound growth too. Plant them in your garden to attract hordes of butterflies, but be careful they don’t take over!
Coneflowers
These flowers get their names from the iconic shape, which is like a cone. They look their best at full bloom, complete with purple (the colour seems to be a favourite with butterflies) petals, and ribbed brown centres. These plants are very attractive to some other small guests besides butterflies too, like other insects and small birds.
Bee Balm
This plant is best planted in moist weather conditions. It is very attractive to a large number of species including butterflies and hummingbirds. The plant is deer resistant.
Adding a source of water will also help to encourage butterfly visitations. Opt for a shallow saucer rather than a deep bird bath. Place pebbles in the water so butterflies have a place to land.
*Emily is a blogger at TillerAdvisor.com and finds dedicated gardening to be one of her fiercest callings in life, and hasn’t shied away from holding the tiller ever since she was a kid helping her gardening enthusiastic parents as a wide-eyed kid.