Capturing the Butterflies' Attention

A warm summer sunny mid-August day in New York is the perfect backdrop for colorful flowers. In my personal opinion, flower gardens are magical places that you are able to design and colorscape with various flower types, colors, and smells! You are the artist of your space, no matter how big or small, and sometimes, you just need to dig in and get started! This past year, I was on a mission to find and plant flowers that often stop me in my tracks for those unique visitors to flutter by! I focused my time and energy on growing Butterfly Bushes, Zinnas, and Petuniuas, producing the ultimate butterfly combo garden! Flowering our Garden Butterfly Bushes are also commonly referred to as Summer Lilacs according to Beaulieu (2020)“Plant taxonomy classifies butterfly bush as Buddleia davidii. It's treated by gardeners as a perennial flower, but, botanically speaking, it's considered a shrub,” and comes in a variety of colors, ranging from dark purple, light purple, white, and various pink options! My favorites are the purple and various pink plants. A description of the Butterfly Bush by Boeckmann (2023) “ is a fast-growing, perennial shrub with masses of flowers—long, spiked trusses—that bloom from summer to autumn. While low-maintenance, Butterfly Bushes do need to be pruned in early spring.” This type of plant is not native to North America, in fact, this special species came from China.

Monarch Butterfly landing on Butterfly Bush

According to Beaulieu (2020) this is considered a controversial plant “because Butterfly Bush is considered invasive in many areas of the U.S. ” I typically plant mine in pots so as not to spread beyond my control. Caring for this bush is relatively low maintenance and it can thrive in most types of conditions as long as the soil is well-drained. In the springtime, it is essential to water it a bit more frequently, and once it blooms, minimal water is required. Not only will your blooms start in early June they last until early October! You will get some very special butterfly visitors, such as the yellow tiger swallowtails and monarchs stopping by and bringing their friend the hummingbird too!

Zinnas are known for their pops of bright color! According to Editors (2018) “The zinnia

— a plant native to Mexico — brightens up our garden from midsummer all the way to the first hard frost.” This year I decided to try my hand at purchasing a packet of seeds for less than five dollars. I planted them after the last frost of the season. These plants are annuals - which means they must be grown every year, whereas perennials come back on their own every year (with good care!). The plants typically germinate pretty quickly in about 9-14 days. After the first sprout, I typically repot them. After they have grown 1-2 inches, I put them directly into the soil about 5-7 inches apart. I prefer the look of having a bunch of them together, but you can also plant them further apart. Zinnas can grow upwards of 18 to 24 inches. These flowers are also excellent if you want to cut and make fresh boutiques in your home! If you are wondering which butterflies have a taste for this flower, according to Planting Zinnias for Butterflies (n.d.) “ Swallowtails, Monarchs,” you might even be able to spot a hummingbird.

I just started adding Petuniuas to my garden mix. It was love at first sight when I stumbled upon them cascading from hanging a basket. This type of annual flower can grow from 18 inches to even as long as 4 feet. There are many types of Petuniuas. My goto Petunias are called “Spreading or Trailing Petunias: These are low-growing and can spread as much as 3 to 4 feet. They form a beautiful, colorful ground cover because the flowers form along the entire length of each stem. They can be used in window boxes or hanging baskets.” Boeckmann (2023a). This type of flower loves to be sun-drenched for most of the day. This past summer, I grew them in hanging baskets which means I had to water them more frequently than the ones I planted in the ground.

Meeting our visitors

When flowers start blooming and the days stay lighter longer we get various butterflies visiting our garden. The most common ones in Westchester County, New York are the Yellow Swallowtails, Monarchs, Black Swallowtails, and the Silver-Boardered Fritillary.

Yellow Swallowtails or Tiger Swallowtails are a very common butterfly type in North America. According to GWF (2020) "Receiving its name from the yellow wings with black “tiger markings” and the tapered tail-like extensions at the bottom of its wings, the male Swallowtail is a beautiful and impressive sight darting among the flowers as it feeds. The coloring varies but the female’s is more subdued: brown to black wings with yellow spots. Both sexes also have blue markings along their hindwings." You can spot the difference in the pictures I captured in my very own garden! The flower types these beautiful butterflies are attracted to are Butterfly Bushes, Petunias, and Zinnas! Monarchs are a popping bright orange color with their"wings covered with black veins and rimmed with a black border and white dots. Females have thicker veins in their wings. A monarch's brilliant coloring tells predators: "Don't eat me. I'm poisonous." The butterflies get their toxins from a plant called milkweed, which is their only food source in the caterpillar stage. An animal that eats a monarch butterfly usually doesn't die, but it feels sick enough to avoid monarchs in the future" (National Geographic (2014). This butterfly usually starts fluttering around in mid-September to early October.

Black Swallowtail Caterpillar - Muching on my Parsley!

According to research (Creature Feature:

Black Swallowtail Butterfly, 2020) "The black swallowtail butterfly is native to eastern North America. The butterflies can be found in meadows and fields and are attracted to butterfly bush, phlox, zinnias, purple coneflowers, and milkweeds." A fun fact is this special butterfly is the official state butterfly of New Jersey! Also featured in the photo, I was lucky enough to take is the eastern black swallowtail catiplliar feeding on some of my parsley plants! I had taken this picture over the summer, and wasn't sure what butterfly this caterpillar would transform into! I read through "Spotted a caterpillar on dill in your garden? by Nolan (2021)" to figure out which caterpillar was visiting my garden.

Our final Futterfly guest is often referred to as Silver-Boardered Fritillary or just Bordered Fritillary! According to Silver-Bordered Fritillary Boloria Selene ([Denis and Schiffermüller], 1775) | Butterflies and Moths of North America (n.d.) this type of butterfly can be identified by it's "Upperside orange with black markings. The underside of hindwing with rows of metallic silver spots; postmedian spots small and black." We can spot this butterfly from June to very early August in New York!

Snapping our Visitors in Action! All photos below and throughout this blog post were taken by me!