Monday, May 30, 2011

Butterfly Garden 2011

Last year we observed the life cycle of the Monarch, and noticed a couple Swallowtail caterpillars.  This year we planted several different hosts plants in hopes of watching the metamorphosis of a few different butterflies.  We will be inspecting the garden often hoping to catch a glimpse of the:

      Common Buckeye
Variegrated Fritillary

 Gulf Fritillary
 Julia Heliconian
Zebra Heliconian
Silvery Checkerspot

Texan Crescent
 Monarch
Black Swallotail

 This is the start of our garden this year.

 Purple Passion Flower (thanks Mindy! :)
Host plant to the Fritillaries and Heliconians.

 Braided Shrimp Plant
Host plant to the Texan Crescent
 Mint and Lantana for nectar
 Butterfly Bush, a great nectar plant

 Firecracker
Host plant and nectar for the Common Buckeye.
 Hummingbirds will flutter to this, also.

Butterfly Weed
Host plant and nectar for the Monarch

We also planted dill, which is a host plant for the swallowtail, and a couple packets of Garden Mixture Hummingbird and Butterfly seed pack and sunflowers to attract the Silvery Checkerspot.

I am so excited to discover and observe with the kids all the inhabitants that will dwell in our garden.  We hope you will follow along and experience it with us or be inspired to create your own butterfly garden.  Happy butterfly watching!

A great lapbook to go along with your butterfly garden can be found at http://www.yeeshallknow.com
Butterfly Battle.

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