Butterbloom's Garden..................Page 2

Fun With Butterflies......
Why not have fun with your butterflies. Here are some ways to enjoy the wonderful world of butterflies even more.

Catching Butterflies:

I'd just like to say that I love catching butterflies. This may not be kosher to some people but I love it. I first set out to catch them to have a specimen of each but I have now decided, that I will catch and release.....into my garden!

I don't know if it will increase my butterfly population or bring more varieties in or not but it something I am going to experiment with.

If you are going to buy a butterfly net, I think the "aerial" nets work best. These are the nets that are mesh, not cotton muslin. Make sure you get one that is long enough and large enough in diameter. Children's butterfly nets are sometime not large enough to use but are indeed suitable, especially if you want to just test the waters, so to speak. If you have never gone butterfly catching you should try it. It's quite a challenge, especially some of the faster smaller butterflies like blues that don't like to light anywhere.

These are professional nets.
Better left to the experienced butterfly catcher as they are bit hard to manage.

Native Plants:

I have found the native plants that butterflies like are not always available in nurseries and certain plants are not even well recognized as being butterfly plants. I like to seek out plants that my native butterflies are attracted to by observing them in the wild. If it is not an endangered plant, I sometimes take some to try in my garden.

My "Maypop Passionflower" was taken from a field near a golf course. It has done very well for me. I also have a "Virgina Peppergrass" that I've now planted hoping to see what will come to it. It is mentioned in some of the larval sources and is not available in native plant nurseries. Another is "Caesar Weed" which is another plant that is readily available along most roadsides in my area.

Rearing Houses:

If you decide to raise your butterflies from their larval stage you will need a rearing house. It can be a makeshift one made from cut 2-litre bottles or any discarded plastic container that will allow air circulation and access to add plants as needed for the caterpillars. Also there needs to be a "roof" or lid so that when the caterpillar is ready to morph it will have a place to hang from. You will also want to make sure the caterpillar cannot crawl out, so make sure there are no openings large enough for them to. Small air holes are fine.

Rudbekia - A beautiful black-eyed-susan looking flower that the butterflies just love.

One Of Billy Bear's Fun Butterfly Games

(Click Above)

A Hairstreak Butterfly

A Gulf Frittilary

Marketplace

My Favorite Links


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The images used in this site have been found on the internet and are known to me to be "free" for use and not copyrighted. Should you be the copyright owner of any image found here, be let me know and send proof, and I will quickly remove it. Other pictures are owned by me, Debbie K. Rhodes and are not to be used without written consent.