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Flowers and Fruit as Butterfly Feeders
You can attract butterflies and keep them around by using nectar-producing flowers, and offering over-ripe fruit. These make perfect butterfly feeders during mid to late summer, when butterflies are most active. Having plants blooming in succession will attract new visitors too. The Butterfly Bush and Butterfly Weed are the most popular flowers used to attract butterflies, some other nectar-producing flowers include:
- Asters
- Black-Eyed Susan
- Blue Cardinal Flower
- Common Milkweed
- Delphinium
- Heliotrope
- Joe-Pye Weed
- Lantana
- Liatris
- Marigolds
- Oriental Lilies
- Petunias
- Phlox
- Privet
- Purple Coneflower
- Sedum (Autumn Joy)
- Verbena
- Zinnia
Over-ripened fruit also provides a tasty treat and should be placed in the sun on a raised plate, hung from a shepherd’s hook on a tray feeder, or even a shallow birdbath. Make sure it is in close proximity to your blooming flowers. Some favorite fruits include; peaches, bananas, oranges, cantaloupe, strawberries, and other melons.
Leaf Misters will also attract butterflies, as they love to flit back and forth through the gentle spray. We have one in a bed of Lantana that butterflies visit daily during hot summer days. Bring your garden to life with the magic of butterflies!
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Watch This Butterfly Feeder
If you adore butterflies….put out a butterfly feeder! You can make your own nectar, much like hummingbird nectar. Use 1 part sugar to 4 parts water, no brown sugar, syrup, or any other substitutes should be used. Butterflies also love fruit…on the very ripe side. Bananas, oranges, strawberries, and other over-ripe fruits are a real treat for them. Something as simple as a kitchen plate, a shallow bird bath, or a tray feeder, placed in the sun, preferably near lots of bright flowers will attract these magnificent “flying flowers”
This video shows butterflies feasting on oranges:
- Bats & Butterflies, Bird Accessories, Butterfly Houses, Misters and Birdbath Drippers, Uncategorized
Do They Really Use Butterfly Houses?
Do Butterflies Really Use Butterfly Houses?
Also called hibernation boxes, they make wonderful accents in any environment. Available in redwood and cedar, from basic to decorative designs, butterfly houses add a certain charm to any flower garden. But…you have to wonder, do butterflies really use them? I don’t have one in my own garden, so I can’t speak from experience here, but opinions do vary on the subject. Some say they will use them for protection from predators, and for roosting during inclement weather. Others will say not at all, and that a mud puddle is a nicer gesture for butterflies!
Of course flowers that produce nectar will always attract butterflies, and they just adore the gentle spray of leaf misters…this IS from experience! Several Butterfly Bushes, lots of Lantana, and Native Salvia, along with 2 leaf misters give us the daily pleasure of viewing these “flying flowers” daily during warmer months just north of Atlanta.
If you do opt for a butterfly house in your garden, the recommended height is about four feet above ground, and it’s best to have a southern exposure in the wintertime as well.
Birding Tips, Information & News
