Butterfly Gardens
Get your garden butterfly-ready!
You have until September 1, 2024 to enter your garden in NABA’s inaugural Lana Edwards Butterfly Garden of the Year Contest!
Butterflies need you!
We can all make a positive impact on butterflies regardless of where we live. Local butterfly gardens of all shapes and sizes are critical to creating habitat that supports these crucial pollinators. Add native nectar and caterpillar food plants to your garden to help butterflies survive and thrive!
3 critical items for every Butterfly garden
- At least three different caterpillar food plants must be grown, preferably at least three of each selected species so caterpillars can find adequate food. One milkweed plant, if the only milkweed around, may be targeted by an egg-laying Monarch because she can find no other food. She may return many times to lay her eggs on that one plant. Butterfly Gardeners never want caterpillars to go hungry, so plant for abundant egg-laying! Use of plant species native to your area is strongly encouraged, but not required.
- At least three different native butterfly nectar sources must be grown, preferably more than one plant of each selected species.
- Because butterflies and many other beneficial pollinators are insects, insecticides and pesticides should not be used in your butterfly gardens, including Organic pesticides (they kill too).
If your Garden meets these 3 criteria you are on your way to getting your Butterfly Garden certified as part of our BUTTERFLY GARDEN CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.
