Creating an ideal butterfly garden

NAIROBI, KENYA: Few sights are more delightful than that of colourful butterflies dancing in the breeze on a fine Saturday morning. Yet such sights have become increasingly rare in our gardens today.

Runaway development on green fields where butterflies have hitherto bred and fed coupled with increased use of pesticides and herbicides in our gardens have combined to drive these winged beauties out of our neighbourhoods and daily lives.

But you can bring them back. By creating the right environment in your garden for butterflies to live and multiply, you will not only be adding immense beauty to your home but also playing a major role in preserving these fragile insects and the environment as well. Here are some tips to get you started.

 Find the right spot

You don’t need a large area to have a successful butterfly garden. It can be as small as a window box or a couple of hanging pots on a terrace or balcony. The most important consideration is the quality of the environment, not the quantity.

Butterflies are notorious sun worshipers. Although they will need a shady spot to find respite from the sun during very hot days, they spend their time in the sun for the most part.

Moreover, most plants that attract butterflies are also sun-lovers. Butterflies will also need a sheltered spot away from strong winds.

 Butterfly host plants

The plants on which a butterfly will lay eggs are called host plants. When the eggs hatch into caterpillars, the host plant provides the food and shelter that the caterpillars need to survive.

Many of the best host plants are often considered wildflowers and may already be growing freely in and around your neighbourhood.

Some common butterfly host plants include certain varieties of the citrus tree, the pawpaw tree and the cassia tree. Shrubs such as hibiscus and wisteria also make great host plants for certain species of butterfly.

Common annuals and perennials that host butterflies include members of the pea family, carrot family, passion fruit vines, sunflowers and violets.

 Butterfly flowers

Additionally, you will need to include flowers that attract and provide nectar for the adult butterfly. Some common nectar rich flowers include the black-eyed Susan, French marigold, impatien, sunflower, birds of paradise and zinnia.

Remember that colours in a butterfly garden also play a major role in their attraction.

It has been proved that purple, pink, yellow and white are the most preferred colours by butterflies. Having as many of these flower colours as possible is likely to increase your rate of success.

An excellent way to gather ideas for laying out a butterfly garden is to first visit natural gardens, nature centres or garden nurseries.

Watch carefully to see which plants are attracting and hosting the most butterflies and ask the gardeners which plants they would suggest for your butterfly garden.

 Layout

Because colour plays such a vital role in attracting butterflies, you are better off planting in groups of the same colour, rather than single plants of different colours to create greater impact.

In so doing, you will also create greater harmony to the pleasure of your human visitors. Also plan your garden so that it has something in flower throughout the year.

Chart the blooming seasons of the plants you have decided to include and make sure that you have at least two or three plants flowering at any given time.

— The writer is a landscape architect.