Planting a Butterfly Garden

We are planting flowers to attract and benefit butterflies

We created a butterfly garden in a section of the yard. And it works. They are visiting more this year than ever, so it definitely works!

We started by visiting the University of California, Santa Cruz Arboretum, where they have a butterfly garden and information about which plants the local butterflies prefer. Then looked up suggestions online. We have noticed that they are especially attracted to the following:

Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)
Coneflower (Echinacea)
Lantana
Marigolds
Lavender
Black-Eyed Susan
Milkweed
Agapanthus
Aster
Salvia
Sunflowers

Also, anything with the word butterfly in the name.

Most frequently we see Monarchs, Tiger swallowtails, Tortoises, Fritillaries, Painted Ladies, Common Buckeyes, and Red Admirals.

The butterfly larva often prefer a specific plant, so we planted some for them as well.

This is a tiger swallowtail butterfly larva on black dill and a Monarch butterfly larva on Showey milkweed.

Photos by Tony Fitzgerald Photography

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“While traveling the world and looking for the best ingredients, we found that many producers who care about quality also care about sustainability. We discovered that by choosing the best ingredients we had reduced our carbon footprint. A few more changes, and we cut our carbon footprint in half! Then we realized that if everyone did this, it would have a big effect on climate change. Little changes add up to something big. Little things matter. We could save the world, one cookie at a time.”

Professional Photographer - Food Photographer, Wedding Photographer. Lisa was previously the Deputy Agricultural Commissioner, responsible for reviewing and enforcing organic regulations and Environmental Protection Agency pesticide use regulations. She also worked for years as an Agricultural Advisor in California, a farmer in California, and an Agricultural Extension Agent in Thailand. She received a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from California State University, Chico and studied Integrated Pest Management at U.C., Davis, which involved farming methods that preserve the environment.

Planting a Butterfly Garden

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