Gardening for the Butterflies

Butterfly Attracting
Herbs - Hosts and Larval

• Nectar Plants provide nectar for the butterfly to live on.
• Larval plants provide food for the caterpillar stage of the butterfly.
• You need both types in a butterfly garden. The larval plants are for the butterfly to lay its eggs on. The butterfly eggs will turn into a caterpillar, than form a chrysalis which will then transform into a beautiful butterfly! And the cycle continues.  

Butterfly Garden
HERBS:
• Basil (nectar)
• Chives (nectar)
• Dill (larval)
• Fennel (larval)
• Lavender (nectar)
• Mexican Mint Marigold (nectar)
• Mints (nectar)
• Oregano (nectar)
• Parsley (larval)
• Pineapple Sage (nectar)
• Rosemary (nectar)
• Thyme (larval)
• Tiny Tim (nectar)

Umbelliferous herbs provide nectar and act as larval host plants. Herbs in general are excellent nectar sources for butterflies.

Larval Plants (butterfly species noted):

• Achillea millefolium (yarrow). Painted Lady
• Anethum graveolens (dill). Black Swallowtail; Anise Swallowtail
• Foeniculum vulgare (fennel). Black Swallowtail; Anise Swallowtail
• Levisticum officinale (lovage). Black Swallowtail; Anise Swallowtail
• Mentha spp. (mint). White Peacock, Painted Lady
• Petroselinum crispum (parsley). Black Swallowtail; Anise Swallowtail
• Salvia spp. (sage). Gray Hairstreak; Painted Lady; West Coast Lady
• Tanacetum vulgare (tansy). Painted Lady
• Viola odorata (sweet violet). Fritillaries

Nectar Plants:

• Achillea millefolium (yarrow) 
• Allium schoenoprasum (chives)
• Chamaemelum nobile (chamomile)
• Coriandrum sativum (cilantro)
• Lavandula spp. (lavender)
• Mentha pulegium (English pennyroyal)
• Mentha spp. (mint)
• Nepeta spp. (catmint)
• Ocimum basilicum (basil)
• Origanum laevigatum (oregano)
• Origanum majorana (marjoram)
• Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary)
• Salvia spp. (sage)
• Thymus spp. (thyme)

Cwaizy Wabbit Jumps the Fence

After a hectic week - I came home and found lots of fresh veggies planted in different garden areas, thanks to my sweet hubby. It's a fun adventure every time I go out to find what's gone in today.


Newly planted tomato, eggplant, and
peppers among existing basils - this is
only one side of this raised bed garden.

New tomato, eggplant and peppers have been added to our super duper raised bed garden. Another garden area is full of zucchini plants and yet another area has cucumber plants - I'm amazed at how quickly everything grows once it's in the ground. We'll have our beans, broccoli, cauliflower and romanesquo plants ready for garden planting this week.

Butterfly Garden

Well the Cwaizy Wabbit has jumped the fence. The plants always look greener on the other side so our cross-eyed wabbitt has found a new place to watch over.

The Cwaizy Wabbit (CW) moved to the newly planted and mulched
hummer/butterfly garden. Can you see CW under a bush?
Porterweed, lantana, blue mist flower,
Mexican honeysuckle, Pato de Chivo and more butterfly
hummingbird attracting plants are here. I'm still discovering
something new every time I go out to check it.



Hummer taking a break amongst Red Porterweed shrubs.

Due to some family emergencies, the hummingbird feeder didn't get refilled this week. The hummingbirds are still helping themselves to the porterweed blooms and other flowering shrubs though and seem quite content.