|
|
|
10 Ways to Survive Building or Remodeling Your Home
1. Think of the project as a new diet. Who doesn’t want to lose at least five pounds? This is one way to do it. Between running to stores all day and evening long, meeting with contractors, inspecting the work, searching the Western world for the...
A Steel Building Provides the Perfect Storage Solution
Steel buildings are enjoying a resurgence as a storage solution
for everyone from sportsmen to farmers. Able to withstand the
harshest weather conditions - heavy snow, thunderstorms, and
even hurricanes - steel buildings have distinct advantages...
Beautiful Lighting Tips 101 - A Crash Course in Lighting Design
Many people cannot immediately identify why they may like or dislike a particular room or interior. Proper lighting and illumination is the single most critical factor in designing a pleasing interior environment. A successful lighting design is...
Grandfather Clocks Bring a Sense of Awe…They're So Tall
Standing tall and big are the stately grandfather clocks. They are huge, immense beings with personalities of their own, and do they tell time. Boy oh boy - do they tell time. They also go ding dong a lot. At least the antique grand father clocks...
Home Improvement Software
There are lots of computer programmes out there that are
available to help you do all those massive home improvement
projects that need a lot of organizing, planning and going over!
These types of projects can't just be done on a whim, they...
Planting Or Transplanting A Tree
In planting or transplanting a tree, and in building on a lot where you wish to preserve the trees, the gardener's chief consideration must be to protect the root structure of the tree. The big roots near the stem anchor the tree to the ground,...
Selling Your Home – Be Sure It Shows Well
Whether you are selling a house, townhouse, condo or apartment, there are universal tips that will help it sell. Primary among those tips are making sure your home “shows well.” First impressions of a home go a long way to determining how quickly...
Simple steps to build a Tabletop Water Fountain
Water is the essence of life. Creating your own table top fountains is a wonderful way to bring out your creativity and self-expression while simultaneously relieving stress and enhancing your interior décor. There are many unique benefits to...
So which builder can you trust?
At some stage every homeowner needs to get the builders in. Whether its a necessity or for aesthetic purposes, raising the funds for home improvements is usually the easy part. Finding a good reliable builder is when the problems start. With the...
The 10 Most Important Rules of Choosing and Dealing With a Contractor
Building your dream home can quickly turn into a nightmare of unmet schedules, cost over runs, shabby workmanship and endless arguments. I have been originating and closing construction loans for a good number of years now and I have experienced...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Butterfly Gardens For Your Region
I grew up in the city surrounded by asphalt and concrete sidewalks, brick buildings and vacant lots – but there was no lack of nature or butterflies in my life. Amid the sprawl of a decaying urban landscape, the overgrown vacant lots choked with ‘weeds’ attracted so many butterflies that they would perch on my shoulders and hands if I was still enough. These ‘accidental’ butterfly gardens provided all the ingredients that butterflies require to congregate en masse. These same ingredients can turn your garden into a fairy wonderland of fluttering wings and color.
Over the past thirty years, butterfly gardening has become popular, both to attract the beautiful travelers and to help preserve species of butterflies that were dwindling due to human encroachment into their natural habitats. If you’re planning a butterfly garden, it’s important to keep in mind that there is no one recipe for a successful garden. Butterfly species that are indigenous to different areas are attracted to different types of plants. In order to foster butterflies, you’ll need to know the butterfly species that are found in your area, and provide them with plants that are favored food sources for adult butterflies as well as those plants that they prefer for laying their eggs and nourishing larva.
There are, however, some standards that apply to all butterfly gardens. Wherever you live and whatever butterflies you hope to attract, you’ll attract more of them if you follow a few simple basics:
Plant flowers in clumps and drifts.
Butterflies will flock to large expanses of flowers in similar colors that bloom at the same time rather than to single plants with just a few blooms. A carpet of violets, a sea of buttercups or a wide open field full of Queen Anne’s Lace is sure to be visited by dozens of butterflies.
Butterfly gardens need to provide both sun and shade.
Like all insects, butterflies are cold-blooded creatures. They thrive on warm sun, and will bask on flat rocks or perch for long minutes on the branches of a high bush in the sunlight. At the same time, they need shade and shelter when the sun is too hot, or on cool, cloudy days. An area that gets bright sun for at least 4-6 hours per day is the best spot for a butterfly garden, but don’t forget to include landscaping details that offer shade.
Butterflies love puddles.
Add a sunken birdbath to your garden, or provide a cluster of rocks that traps rain water to give butterflies a cool spot where they can indulge their love of standing water.
Regional Butterfly Species and Plants
Different species of butterflies frequent different parts of the country. You can find more information about which plants are best for your area at a local nursery, or the agricultural
extension unit at a local university. For quick reference, though, here’s a short list of butterflies and plants that they love by region.
Northeastern N. America
From W. Virginia up through Quebec and as far west as Indiana and Ohio
Butterflies: Swallowtails (black, spicebush and tiger), Cabbage White, Pearl Crescent, Monarch, Buckeye, Red-spotted Purple, Great Spangled Fritillary
Plants: Milkweed (monarchs), fennel, parsley, carrot and dill (black swallowtails), spicebush (spicebush swallowtails), nasturtium (cabbage white), violets (great spangled fritillary), willow, birch, beech, aspen, wild cherry (many species)
Nectar Flowers: Buddleia, Heliotrope, Lantana, Milkweed, Mint, Pentas, Porterweed, Verbena and Zinnias.
Southeastern U.S.
Butterflies: Swallowtails (black, spicebush, tiger and pipevine), Buckeye, Pearl Crescent, Monarch, Cloudless Sulphur, Gulf Fritillary, Red-spotted purple
Plants: Fennel, carrot, spicebush, dill, parsley, pipevine (swallowtails), wild cherry, poplar, sassafras, passiflora, wild senna, asters, milkweed
Nectar Flowers: same as northeast
Southern Florida
Butterflies: Polydamas swallowtail, giant swallowtail, zebra longwing, Julia, gulf fritillary, orange-barred sulphur, cloudless sulphur, monarch, queen
Plants: milkweed, wild senna, passiflora, wild lime, citrus, dutchman’s pipe
Midwest
Butterflies: Swallowtails, Buckeye, Cloudless Sulphur, Pearl Crescent, Cabbage White, Monarch, Viceroy
Plants: Pipevines, fennel, carrot, dill, parsley, violets, nasturtium, wild senna, asters, snapdragon, verbena, cabbage, milkweed
New Mexico, Texas
Butterflies: Patch, Hackberry, Monarch, Pearl Crescent, Question Mark, Buckeye, Cloudless Sulphur, Gulf Fritillary
Plants: sunflowers, passiflora, hackberry, wild senna, milkweed, nettles, asters
Arizona, California, Nevada
Butterflies: Western tiger swallowtail, anise swallowtail, two-tailed swallowtail, black swallowtail, pale swallowtail, pipevine swallowtail, cloudless sulphur, west coast lady, Monarch, gulf fritillary
Plants: Fennel, carrots, parsley, dill, wild senna, wild plums, buckthorns, wild cherries, wild lilacs, hollyhocks, ashes, willows, aspens, poplars
Western States and Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta
Butterflies: Western tiger swallowtail, pale swallowtail, cabbage white, striped hairstreak, Wiedemeyer’s Admiral, mourning cloak, monarch, great spangled fritillary, painted lady
Plants: wild plums and cherries, aspen, willow, poplar, sunflowers, buckthorns, wild lilacs, nasturtium, blueberries, ashes, violet, chokecherry.
About the Author
This article courtesy of http://www.flowers-guide.net
|
|
|
|
|
|