Photos by: Molly Steele

 

Molly P. Steele

Techincal Writing Sample

 

How to Plant a Beautiful Butterfly Garden in Central Pennsylvania

Molly P. Steele
English 202c

 

The Butterfly:


Figure 1: A Monarch butterfly1 Figure 2: A Tiger Swallowtail butterfly1

Many butterflies frequent central Pennsylvania, and there are many ways that you can bring them to your garden. Butterflies that are common to the center region, like the monarch and the swallowtail butterflies pictured above, migrate to warmer places during the winter. Therefore, they can only be seen through the summer and early fall, from May until mid November. The lifecycle of the butterfly includes four stages: the egg, the caterpillar, the pupa, and the butterfly. This entire process is completed in about 15 days. The key to success in your butterfly garden is to incorporate plants and flowers for all life stages of the butterfly. It is also important that you use several plants that have different blooming cycles, so flowers are always present. When the egg hatches into the caterpillar, the caterpillar will eat the leaves of the plant that is hatched on. Caterpillars also like to eat vegetables. The adult butterflies eat the nectar from the flowers. 2

Step by step instructions are provided for your assistance in constructing your butterfly garden. You will first need to find some open land. Then you must chose your flowers and plant them, and then care for them as needed. Once your flowers reach full bloom, you will start seeing more and more butterflies in your garden.

Getting Started:


To get started, you need to find an area that can be turned into a garden. This area should be in a sunny location that is relatively protected from strong winds. Butterflies are cold-blooded, so they love the sun2. You can make your garden however large or small you like. It is recommended that your garden be at least 25 square feet, so you can plant a variety of flowers and other plants.


The other materials that you will need are:
1. Various plants (see table 1)
2. Some medium to large rocks
3. Old clothes for gardening
4. A pair of gloves
5. A large shovel
6. A small shovel/spade
7. A watering can or hose
8. Fertilizer
9. Chicken wire fencing and stakes (optional)


Once you find a place to plant your garden, and collect all your necessary materials, it is time to pick what plants and flowers you are going to plant in your garden.

Choosing Flowers:


Butterflies are most attracted to red, orange, pink, yellow and purple flowering plants. When shopping for your plants it is important to choose plants that are different heights, have slightly different blooming times, and have flat blossoms or clustered blossoms2. You also must consider how much time you would like to spend caring for the garden. Easy to grow plants are recommended because they need little attention, and there is a greater chance of survival if they are accidentally neglected. By using easy to grow plants, you can have a butterfly garden even if you don’t have much time or if you are a beginning gardener. A list of recommended plants is found in the following table, along with some basic information about them.

Table 1: Information about some common plants used in butterfly gardens.2

Plant name
Caterpillar of Butterfly food?
Blossom Color
Flowering Period
Type of Flower: (Perennial/Annual/Tree/Shrub)

Milkweed
Caterpillar
N/A
N/A
Perennial, Annual
Tulip Tree
Caterpillar
N/A
N/A
Tree/Shrub
Parsley
Caterpillar
N/A
N/A
Perennial, Annual
Spricebush
Caterpillar
N/A
N/A
Shrub
Lilac
Butterfly
Purple
May
Shrub
Aster
Butterfly
Purple/Blue
July - Sept.
Perennial
Black-eyed Susan
Butterfly
Yello
July-Aug.
Perennial
Butterfly Bush
Butterfly
Purple/Pink
July-Oct.
Shrub
Cosmos
Butterfly
Purple, Pink, White and Red
June-Nov.
Perennial, Annual
Marigold
Butterfly
Yellow, Orange, and Red
June-Nov.
Annual
Coneflower
Butterfly
Purple
July-Sept.
Perennial
Verbena
Butterfly
Purple
June-Nov.
Perennial
Zinnia
Butterfly
Purple, Red, Pink, Orange and Yellow
July-Sept.
Annual
Butterfly Weed
Butterfly
Orange and Red
June-Sept.
Perennial

You may buy seeds, seedlings, or larger plants to plant in your garden. Buying seeds will take more time because they require more attention than if you were to buy seedlings or larger plants. For best results, seeds should be started inside, in small pots placed in direct sunlight and watered every day. Once they sprout, you should allow them to grow until they are about 2 to 3 inches tall, then you can plant them outside in your garden. If you choose to simply plant seeds directly outside, you may not get as many plants as you would like, so you should plant more seeds to allow for some of them to not sprout. If you chose to buy seedlings or larger plants, you can plant them directly into your garden.

Planting the garden:


After you have bought all of your flowers, it is time to plant the garden. Put on some old clothes, because you will most likely get muddy. You can also wear gardening gloves if you don’t want to get your hands dirty. Make sure that the soil in the plot of land that you have selected has been thoroughly turned over and fertilized. You can rent a machine to turn over the soil, or you can use your large shovel and simply dig holes and fill them. By turning over your soil, you are thoroughly mixing in the fertilizer and loosening the soil so the plant roots can easily take hold and grow. The fertilizer adds key nutrients to the soil that allow the plants to flourish. Without fertilizer, your plants may not grow as large as if they would with fertilizer. A lot of soil does not have the nutrients needed for plants to grow, or else they are present in very small amounts. That is why fertilizer should be mixed into the soil.

Before you begin planting, you should use your hose or watering can to moisten the soil. This will make planting much easier. To plant, simply follow the instructions printed on the pots, or on the plant description cards that are stuck into the soil. The planting instructions are most commonly printed on the back of these cards. If you chose to buy seeds, there are easy to follow instructions printed on the back of the seed packets.

Some General Planting Tips:

1. For potted plants, you most commonly dig a hole just big enough for the roots and soil of the potted plant. The ground soil should cover about an eighth of an inch of the stem of the plant.

2. Seeds should be planted in small pots indoors. Poke your finger into the soil about a half an inch, drop the seed in, and cover the hole. The same procedure is done if you choose to plant seeds directly into the ground.

3. When you are planning your garden, it is best to plant taller flowers toward the back or middle, and shorter flowers around the edges or in the front.

4. You should plant your flowers in small clusters or groups, rather than in rows.


Basic Upkeep:


Once you have planted your garden, you need to water it every day to make sure the roots take hold and to help the plants become healthy. After the first two weeks, you can change to watering every other day; however, watering everyday will produce the best plants that will have more blossoms.

You may also choose to weed your garden to prevent the overgrowth of unwanted plants. This is completely optional, however weeding will produce a more attractive garden, and it will allow the flowering plants to grow larger and be healthy. If there are a lot of weeds in the garden, there will be fewer nutrients for the flowering plants. Weeds tend to grow rapidly and will soon dominate your garden if they are not controlled. An important thing to remember is to make sure you know what you are pulling out of the ground. You must be careful not to remove any of your flowering plants.

You may want to surround your garden with chicken wire fencing to prevent rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and deer from eating your flowers and seedlings. This is completely optional, but it is highly recommended.

How to fence in your garden:

1. Make sure you measure the circumference of your garden so you can buy enough chicken wire.

2. Divide this number by three to determine how many stakes you will need.

3. Drive a stake into the ground about every three feet around the edge of your garden.

4. Use three small pieces of rope or twine to secure the chicken wire to each stake. One piece around the top, middle, and bottom of each stake to secure the fencing.

Optional Items to Include in your Garden:

Some other things that you may want to put in your butterfly garden include large rocks and a birdbath. Butterflies like to perch in sunny places to warm their wings and bodies. Large to medium sized rocks are great ways to supply a butterfly with a perfect place to perch. Birdbaths also offer a place for the butterflies to perch. Male butterflies have also been known to congregate around mud puddles2.

A Quick Review:


Butterfly gardens are a great way to bring beauty into your yard. They not only attract the butterflies, but they offer a rainbow of flowers throughout the summer and fall. You can plant a butterfly garden almost anywhere, and there are a large variety of plants that you can use. The garden requires little maintenance and it is a joy to watch the plants and butterflies go through their life cycles.


Figure 9: An example of a butterfly garden. 1

Works Cited:
1. Bailey, Stephanie. (1994) “How to Make Butterfly Gardens.” University of Kentucky: Department of Entomology. Retrieved on October 15, 2005 from < http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/misc/ef006.htm >

2. Mank, Judith and Margaret Brittingham. (2000) “Gardening for Butterflies.” Pennsylvania Wildlife No. 8. Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Agricultural Research and Cooperative Extension. Retrieved on October 15, 2005 from < http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uh139.pdf >

 

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Photos by: Molly Steele