One of the most beautiful visitors to any garden is the butterfly. The Mississippi County Master Gardeners have planted a butterfly garden next to the Extension Office for the sole purpose of attracting these lovely insects.
Once upon a time, we used to see literal clouds of monarch butterflies this time of year in Mississippi County. Aerial spraying of pesticides, such as the Boll Weevil Eradication Program, have drastically cut the numbers we are seeing today, as well as killing off a huge number of other pollinators such as honeybees.
So if we want to attract monarchs, swallowtails and other beautiful species of butterflies, we need to plan ahead for it when we are making our garden plans.
There are several species of swallowtail butterflies. I have seen the black and the zebra swallowtail in my own garden. I have never seen a tiger swallowtail in this area, but apparently they do live in this neck of the woods. And the good news is, the same plants can be used to attract all of the swallowtails and monarchs as well.
The most important thing to remember is that you can't attract these butterflies in great numbers just by providing the plants upon which they feed. You must also plant the things on which their caterpillars feed. If they can feed and lay eggs in the same place, they will visit your garden on a regular basis.
Most of us know the monarch feeds and lays eggs on the milkweed plant. This is an ugly, weedy plant that no one wants to put in their garden. But there is an alternative. Butterfly weed also attracts monarchs, and they will lay their eggs and their caterpillars will feed on it as well.
Swallowtails will also feed on butterfly weed. But their caterpillars prefer to feed on a family of aromatic herbs related to the carrot. If you plant carrots in your garden, you have probably seen the brilliant, striped caterpillars feeding on them late in the season. These are the larvae of the swallowtail, usually the zebra swallowtail.
The black swallowtail prefers to lay its eggs on dill and fennel. I grow both of these in my garden, and my biggest problem is that I keep forgetting to plant enough for both me and the caterpillars. Spraying keeps the plants free of these eating machines, but also kills the butterflies.
Dill is known to repel squash bugs and other pests that feed on squash and other vegetables, including the Japanese beetle. So planting a row of dill along beside a row of squash or peppers provides enough dill to serve several purposes. Fennel does the same thing to a certain extent, but is hard to grow in this area because the soil is too dense for it to produce bulbs. If you don't want it for the vegetable bulb, fennel is a beautiful, lacy plant and will keep the butterflies coming to your garden.
It is always a good idea to include flowers in your vegetable garden. They attract pollinators and just make your garden that much prettier. Flowers that attract butterflies include impatiens (remember these need a good bit of shade), periwinkle, garden phlox, and purple coneflower, in addition of course to the previously mentioned butterfly weed. Another plant that attracts all of these butterflies, and which I have been growing in my garden for years, is alfalfa.
Most people don't realize alfalfa is a perennial. I have one plant growing in a corner of my strawberry bed. It goes to seed in the fall, and each spring we have alfalfa plants coming up all over the garden, so that when we till, we get a wealth of natural fertilizer from the alfalfa plants. It attracts swallowtails and monarchs, and a lot of other beautiful varieties of butterfly, as well as honeybees and carpenter bees.
I don't know if any of you have noticed those tiny bees that look like bumblebees. They are totally nonaggressive; you can work right up on top of them and they will not sting you. These are carpenter bees. They do not live in hives, and therefore are not susceptible to the fungus that is killing honey bees as a result of the aerial spraying. They live in holes in the ground, in the sides of trees or even in the sides of buildings, and are wonderful pollinators.
The bottom line is, putting a little extra planning into your garden can provide a haven for you and all of the beautiful creatures who visit your garden and pollinate your plants, and can make your gardening experience that much more enjoyable.
plen@rittermail.com