There is nothing as beautiful as butterflies flying by. The key is how to keep them from just flying by. Here is an easy way to attract butterflies to your yard. You will need to design your butterfly garden to attract butterflies by growing nectar producing plants and shrubs. The garden may be large or just plants grown in a container or window box. You can plant a large variety of plants or just a few. These plants include Aster, Purple Coneflower, Black-eyed Susan, Phlox. Lilac and the Butterfly Bush. Remember, do not use pesticides on these plants – keep your butterflies safe.

It is important to provide shelter for the butterflies. The need protection from severe weather and for hibernation. Butterflies will naturally squeeze into narrow slits that nature provides, if available. To assure shelter, you should have a butterfly house like the Audubon Butterfly Shelter shown in the picture. A butterfly house will simulate natural shelter. A butterfly house is a lot like a birdhouse, but it has slits in it.

Of course, a source of food is needed. In addition to your nectar providing plants, rotted fruit and nectar are the butterfly’s choice of food. The Woodlink Classic Butterfly Feeder is an easy to use butterfly feeder. It has a yellow cover that helps attract butterflies to the multiple feeding stations. There are four wicks that provide butterfly nectar, and four fruit stations that give you space to provide fruit (a banana slice fits well, but any fruit will do). The built-in ant guard helps protect the feeder from pests. It has a nectar capacity of 12 ounces, is dishwasher safe and comes ready to hang.

Next, you need water. Butterflies love to drink from mud puddles and obtain mineral and nutrients this way. Sand and pebbles placed in a terracotta flowerpot drip pan or even a shallow pan filled with water can serve as a puddle for butterflies.