By Hosea Omole

The other day a client gave me an interesting brief for her yard. "I just want a happy garden", she said with finality.

As I pondered over what would qualify as a "happy garden", nothing could beat butterfly gardening.

With their beautiful colours and playful movements, butterflies definitely bring a sense of happiness into a garden. They are rich in diversity and life and are a pleasure to behold as they animate and fill your garden with rare natural beauty.

Nectar-producing flowers attract butterflies.

Unfortunately, many species of butterflies are facing extinction. Butterfly gardening, therefore, gives you a chance to contribute towards nature’s conservation albeit on a small scale.

If you are contemplating an eco-friendly design, then this is a perfect landscape intervention you can consider.

Yet a butterfly garden is not too different from an ordinary flower garden.

All you need to know is what butterflies need then meet them in your garden. The needs are simple: a sunny and calm spot, food plants for the caterpillar stage and nectar-rich flowers for the adults. A small patch of water completes the butterfly haven. Here is how to get started.

Getting the right spot

Butterflies love to bask. You may have seen them stretching out their wings in the sun and thought they were just showing off their flashy colours. Far from it, the sun’s warmth actually helps their wing muscles to work properly. The first thing you need to do, therefore, is to make sure you have lots of sun in your yard. At least 50 per cent of your garden should be open to the sun. This will also encourage the much needed nectar flowers to blossom.

It is also important to get a spot that is sheltered from strong winds. If you have strong winds blowing across your site, consider placing wind-breaking elements on the wind’s path to create a calmer environment where butterflies can thrive.

Plant selection

The choice of plants can make or break your butterfly garden. Adult butterflies love brightly coloured flowers with strong scents. Plants with such flowers should, therefore, form the core of your planting palette. Roses, daisies, ornamental lantanas and hibiscus species are some of the favourites you may consider. Also try growing plants that bloom at different times of the year so that you have flowers (and, therefore, butterflies) all year round.

A shallow pond in your garden for butterflies to puddle. Photos: Courtesy/Standard

Next, find out which of the plants in your area are rich in nectar and plant as many of them as you can. Remember that nectar is the staple food for adult butterflies. Planting different varieties of nectar-producing flowers will attract even more species since some are particular about the kind of nectar they eat.

Remember that before becoming all bright and beautiful, a butterfly undergoes a less glorious but important stage of growth — the caterpillar stage. Your plants should, therefore, include food plants like species of passiflora, carrot plant, citrus and cloves. Although some butterfly food plants are considered wild and weedy, a few of them tucked away at a corner will do no harm.

Puddle

Sometimes you will see a crowd of butterflies around a puddle. This is known as puddling. It is thought that butterflies are attracted to puddles because they contain dissolved minerals, which they need to supplement their diet. A shallow pond in your garden with semi-submerged rocks would be a perfect spot for butterflies to puddle. For smaller gardens, shallow birdbaths or even a shallow dish of water will do just fine.

The writer is a professional landscape architect