When you get right down to it, if your live butterfly garden doesn't have any butterflies in it, then all you've got is a garden. And there's nothing wrong with a garden unless your whole goal in planting it was to attract butterflies.
It's a question that plagues all butterfly gardeners. What if I build it and the butterflies don't come? Well, the odds are that if you've got the right mix of plants and flowers and shrubs - butterfly bushes, marigolds, roses and so forth - and you can be just a little patient, you are probably going to have some beautiful winged visitors.
But can you increase the odds, even just a little?
The answer is yes.
Start by ensuring that you have selected the appropriate plants. Butterflies are not capable of ignoring flowering plants - they need the nectar, they need the green space to lay eggs, they need the moisture to drink, and they need broad flat leaves to rest on and sleep beneath. It's a matter of survival for them. So be sure you've got a good roster of butterfly-friendly plants and shrubs. In addition to those mentioned above, plant some Azaleas and Asters, even some common Milkweed (for the lovely traveling Monarch).
Be sure that you have laid the plants out right as well. Remember, butterflies focus on color. So you want to be sure that your plants are located next to one another. That rich vibrant orange and yellow of the marigolds need to be bunched together in order to make it easier for the butterflies to find it.
Another - and somewhat more adventurous - way to get butterflies into your backyard garden is to actually head out into the field so to speak and collect some butterfly eggs. Bring them back to your garden and let them hatch there. This isn't the easiest method by any means. You need to know where to look for the eggs out in the wild, you need to know how to collect and transport them, and you need more than a little luck once you've relocated them to your own turf.
But there's an even simpler way to approach the problem of no butterflies or too few butterflies. How about availing yourself of a live butterfly kit?
Butterfly kits take a great deal of the stress - and the uncertainy as well - out of adding butterflies to your garden. You get to enjoy the whole process of watching them grow and evolve but you don't have to work as hard or worry as much. What's not to like?
Live butterfly kits include eggs that will become a caterpillar that will become a chrysalis that will eventually become a lovely butterfly. The habitat is ideal both for butterfly safety and for viewing the growth process. The best part is that at the end of the process, you can release the live butterflies into a new habitat - your garden!
These kits can work in many different places. Perhaps you are a homeschooling parent and you need a project to explore science. Or you're a public school teacher and you want a project that will spread out over several weeks and still hold the attention of your students.
A good kit will include the caterpillars. Look for at least five as the minimum - ten is actually better. The kit will also include food for these caterpillars. The cage (or habitat) is generally made of a mesh-like netting that can either be hung or stand upright on a table or desk. They will have an opening with a zipper that allows you to access the caterpillars and eventually the butterflies.
The cages can be used several times. And a lot of companies are happy to ship you the cage but wait to send the caterpillars until the season is right. That's important. You don't want to grow your own butterflies until you know that you have a safe place into which to let them go.
Once the butterflies hatch, you can keep them inside for up to twenty-four hours. During that time, they are incapable of flying so you are actually doing them a favor. This is the ideal time to study your butterflies.
Jasper Bailey is a New England-based gardener who loves to write about butterflies.
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