Butterfly Garden

My husband mentioned that he wanted to have a butterfly garden to attract more butterflies to the yard. That translates into "he wanted me to plant and grow a butterfly garden". I chose a spot beside the deck which unfortunately was covered with grass. I went to work on the lasagna method of gardening. I spread out several layers of newspaper, topped that with peat moss, added ashes from the fireplace went in next, spread out straw from my parents' pigeon nests, and topped it all off with some potting soil. The grass wants to be stubborn in a few spots, but for the most part it is working well.

I had several plants already that attract butterflies including the dianthus and petunias you saw yesterday. I was also happy that many of the plants I was starting in the greenhouse were also butterfly friendly. I was able to add in parsley, dill, zinnias, cosmos, and nasturtiums.

I planted this Firecracker butterfly bush that we purchased last month.

Finally I added in a couple of lantana plants purchased from the local nursery.

I actually added in some black-eyed-Susan-like plants that were growing in a pot. It looks sad now. I think in a month of so it will be well established and hopefully attracting butterflies.