While
bees need little enticement (beyond a few flowers) to visit your garden, other
helpful bugs & birds benefit from some coaxing. A garden pro shares the easiest ways to
attract these natural beauties!
Butterflies
Why
your garden loves them: Because pollen sticks to their legs as they
flit from flower to flower, butterflies help both flowers and vegetables
flourish – and help the gardener too (studies show that just watching
butterflies lowers blood pressure)!
Invite
them by:
- Making a mud pie! Male butterflies have a serious salt
tooth, says Sharon Lovejoy, author of Trowel and Error. “They like to feast on the proteins and
minerals in salt.” Just fill an 8”-10”
wide plant saucer with a little soil, water and 1 Tablespoon salt, and put
your ‘mud pie’ in a sunny area, because “butterflies are solar powered,”
she says.
- Planting “pizza” herbs! Butterflies make a beeline to both colorful flowers (sunflowers, zinnias and butterfly bush) and herbs. So Lovejoy suggests you combine the two: Grow the herbs they most love- basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme and place sunflowers around them. Small butterflies will land on the herbs, while the sunflowers will entice bigger Monarchs.
