Design a Butterfly Home

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Design a Butterfly Home

• By Linda Burke

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Your Task

• Each group will design a butterfly garden for the
  school
• The garden will be approximately 50 square feet
• We will designate the general area where you will
  build the garden
• Choose water wise plants
• Be sure your plants will attract and sustain at
  least 3 species of butterflies
• Make our school grounds more beautiful

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Butterflies in Your Garden

• Butterflies have universal appeal
• They help pollinate
• They add another natural element and interest to
  your landscape
• If you build it, they will come
• The butterfly lifecycle is an example of complete
  metamorphosis. To review the life cycle, go to
• http//www.monarchlab.umn.edu/biology/Mon
  archLifeCycle.aspx

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Steps to Design Your Garden

• Step 1 Find your zone
• Step 2 List your butterflies
• Step 3 List host plants
• Step 4 List nectar plants
• Step 5 Choose the plants
• Step 6 Organic gardening
• Step 7 Design your garden
• Step 8 Draw your garden plan
• Step 9 Prepare for puddling and sunning

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Step 1 Find your zone

• The United States is divided into zones based
  on temperatures and precipitation.
• Choose plants for your garden that thrive in your
  temperature range and the amount of rainfall for
  your area
• The following link will help you find your zone

http//www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html
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Step 2 List your butterflies

• Find a list of butterflies that are common to
  your area of the country
• Check the habitat details to see if the
  particulars for your garden site fit the needs of
  the butterfly e.g., if the butterfly prefers
  living in a wooded area and you dont have many
  trees, target a different butterfly
• Search the following site for a list of
  butterflies found in your area of the country

http//www.butterfliesandmoths.org/map
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Step 3 List host plants

• Butterfly larvae can be picky eaters
• The plants that the larvae or caterpillars eat
  are called the host plants
• Make a list of host plants that your butterflies
  offspring need for food
• http//butterflywebsite.com/butterflygardening.cfm
  

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Step 4 List nectar plants

• Butterflies arent quite as choosy about their
  nectar sources
• List some plants your adults particularly like
• Notice plants that many butterflies like
• Butterflies need sun so choose plants for full
  sun
• http//butterflywebsite.com/butterflygardening.cfm
  

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Step 5 Choose the plants

• Pick from the host list
• Pick from the nectar list
• Choose plants of varied heights
• Consider bloom times
• Consider color scheme and design

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Step 6 Organic gardening

• When planning your site and choosing your plants,
  remember butterflies dont like insecticides!
• Insecticides, herbicides and certain fertilizers
  could be a disaster for your butterfly habitat
• Find out if the yards are sprayed
• Insecticide sprays from neighbors have been known
  to wipe out butterfly populations!
• http//butterflywebsite.com/butterflygardening
  .cfm

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Step 7 Design your garden

• Draw your space
• Tall plants go in the rear if it is against a
  wall of fence, in the center, if the garden is
  freestanding
• Short in front, medium behind, etc.
• Consider which plants will be in bloom during
  each season
• Create an appealing color combination
• Remember to provide wind protection
• Remember to choose host and nectar plants
• There are some great sites with garden plans you
  can look at to get ideas.

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Step 8 Draw your garden plan

• Draw your plan to scale on graph paper
• You will have 3 versions of your plan
• spring, summer, and fall
• Color each version to get the effect of your
  color scheme during each season

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Step 9 Prepare for puddling and sunning
S

• Butterflies need shallow water for puddling
• They need rocks or other surfaces for sunning

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Learn more about butterflies

• The following Web site will help you begin your
  study
• http//www.milkweedcafe.com