Bring Your Garden to Life!
Create a Butterfly Haven & Boost London Ontario’s Biodiversity!
All About Butterflies
By planting native species and creating a habitat that caters to butterflies’ needs, you’re contributing to the conservation of these important pollinators. Butterflies have 4 life stages:
- Egg
- Caterpillar (Larva)
- Chrysalis (Pupa)
- Adult Butterfly
Keep your garden safe for butterflies by opting for organic gardening practices as chemicals can harm them at all life stages. However, you can also do so much more to invite these necessary pollinators! Choosing plants that provide nectar for adult butterflies while serving as host plants for caterpillars is vital!
Attract butterflies with a combo of plants like nectar-rich flowers , host plants for caterpillars and sheltering shrubs & trees
With additional Sunny Spots and Water Sources
Butterflies are cold-blooded and need sun to regulate their body temperature. Ensure your garden has sunny spots where butterflies can bask. Also butterflies need water for hydration and nutrients. Create shallow puddles or place dishes with wet sand in your garden.Planting for Success
Perennials
Perennials return year after year, providing consistent food sources for butterflies and saving your wallet in the process!
Consider incorporating the following perennials into your garden this year:
| Swamp Milkweed (AKA Asclepias Incarnata) |
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| Bee Balm (AKA Monarda Didyma) |
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| Columbine (AKA Aquilegia) |
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Annuals
While Annuals don’t come back year after year, they bloom profusely throughout the growing season and allow you the freedom to change up your garden with ease! In Ontario, seasonal changes have a significant impact on butterfly populations. During spring and summer, butterflies are active, laying eggs and feeding on nectar.
Some excellent choices include:
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Ornamental Trees and Shrubs
Add some structure to your garden and some additional nectar sources by incorporating flowering shrubs and trees! As temperatures drop in fall and winter, butterfly survival depends on how well their early life stages—eggs, caterpillars, and pupae—are protected. Provide shelter from wind and predators by incorporating shrubs, tall grasses, or even butterfly houses. Providing natural or artificial shelters, such as leaf piles, native plants, and undisturbed garden spaces, is essential to support these vulnerable stages through cold weather. These habitats help ensure successful development and a healthy butterfly population the following year. Leave the leaves to protect butterflies!
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Solitary Bee Houses are Great Additions to a Garden.
