Butterfly gardens

Who does not love butterflys in the garden. I became entralled with this gardening when I vistsed a butterfly garden on a cruise. Situated within St. Martin, it was fabulous and informative.

I have constructed a little ecological system beginning with double angels trumpet (see Angles Trumpet post) for the catipillars to eat and cocoon on. I have to say, they can strip a bush qucikly too, but then go to cocoon fed and fat. The plant recovers quite quickly to feed another generation and produce their named flowers.

For food within this region, the milkweed is easy to grow and hardy. It produces clusters of flowers that are small , coloured in yellows, oranges and reds (see below picture). The seed pods will then grow and self germinate very easily. Maybe a little to easily so, look for milkweed where you never envisoned them to be. Don't fret, they can be relocated easily.


Another plant is very common to the area and the butterlys love it. I have no idea the name, but a picture is below. It comes in a varity of colours and when left to its own devices, will grow into a low growing bush.


Butterflys do like water, so a dish or bath with sand or dirt saturated with water but not flooded will provide exactly what they need (see below picture). They also like rotten fruit and alochol for extra sugar. I have tried leaving out fruit with a small amount of rum on it - but the beetles are a stronger prescence littering the entire fruit, bath and garden, so I stopped.


I have a wonderful friend who gave me ornamental butterflys one year. The nice thing about a busy butterfly garden is that all items belong within in it and I have butterflys even without it being season.