Butterfly Gardening Resources
Sometimes creating a butterfly garden can seem like an overwhelming task when you don’t know where to turn for resources and supplies. Over the past few years I’ve come across some amazing products and services that have helped me in my pursuit of butterfly garden excellence. As Oprah likes to say, “when you know better…you do better!”
These butterfly garden resources are some of the tools that can help you achieve greater success with your butterfly garden.
Garden Tools
These are the garden tools that make your gardening tasks easier, safer, more efficient, and ultimately more enjoyable:
Showa Atlas Garden Gloves on Amazon
I personally use these and they are my favorite gardening gloves because they’re thin and they dry out fast. Buy 4 or more pairs for best pricing.
Click Here to find your Utility Garden Wagon
Collapsible garden wagons comes in a wide variety of colors and are an excellent garden tool for moving plants and other garden supplies around your yard. It also comes in handy for plant sales. The tires are rubber so you’ll never go flat.
To add a second wagon shelf to place cardboard boxes with more plants, measure your wagon from front to back and then space out 4-6 bungee cords with hooks across the metal frame.
Every gardener needs a good set of pruning shears for plant care (or to take stem cuttings) throughout the year. There are lots of 4-5 star consumer rated pruning shears to choose from.
Use these handy clips with stakes to keep tall plant stalks from flopping over, allowing you to better see butterfly visitors in the garden. We use these on our liatris plants.
Organic Pest Control
It’s frustrating when you put so much hard work into the garden only to have it decimated by destructive pests. Most small insects are tolerable, but rabbits and deer can take the destruction to a whole new level…did I mention they both eat milkweed?!
Add Galvanized Fencing to Keep Out Pesky Rabbits
A one-and-done solution for keeping out those pesky rabbits. Galvanized steel is also resistant to rusting.
Butterfly Gardening Books
When I started this website, I was surprised to find there weren’t any books about creating a butterfly garden specifically for attracting and supporting monarchs. So, I gathered all the monarch-specific gardening info I could find and created this helpful butterfly garden resource:
How to Attract More Monarchs to your Butterfly Garden…and Keep Them There!
In Bring Home The Butterflies Volume I, I reveal 8 butterfly garden tips that have brought us more monarchs than I ever though possible. 2019 Updated Links and Resources
Other Resource Pages
Find nectar plants and host plants (besides milkweed) for your butterfly garden.
There are many varieties of milkweed you can plant to attract monarchs. Check out 25+ garden variety options.
A natural extension of gardening to attract monarchs is raising monarchs to release in your butterfly garden. It’s an amazing and awe inspiring activity that you can experience inside your home, or in a 3-season porch!
Western Monarch Butterfly Resources
Get first hand gardening tips and planting info from experts in your region.
Choosing The Best Butterfly Garden Plants?
A couple things to consider for choosing the best plants to attract wildlife.
Container Gardening
Container Gardening allows you to break up your garden and put pots in places that are more convenient like on a patio or the edge of a raised bed. You can also raise monarch caterpillars on potted plants.
Pots,Planters & Containers…Oh My!
Choose from a variety of attractive and functional planters to make a statement in your garden. Container plants also give you the option to rearrange your garden during the season.
Organic Coconut Coir- Peat Moss Alternative
Coco Coir is a multipurpose growing media alternative to using peat moss, sphagnum moss, or rock wool. It has a high water holding/retention capacity and high air filled porosity that extends your soil supply. Coconut coir is beneficial for plants and earthworms, without harming the environment. Mix this in with all-purpose potting soil.
We’ve used many potting soils over the years and they’ve all worked pretty well. There are many good soil options at local nurseries and big box stores.
Fertilizers and Compost
The nutrients your milkweed and butterfly plants will need to truly thrive…
Improve the soil quality in your garden by adding pre-mixed compost or make your own with a composting bin.
Beginner’s Guide To Making Great Compost & Compost Bins
This year we’re using a combination fish/seaweed fertilizer by Neptune to promote healthy foliage and flowering. I was apprehensive about the potential fish-smell, but the subtle odor dissipates quickly after being applied.
20 20 20 All Purpose Fertilizer with Micronutrients
We’ve used this the past couple seasons and had great results on milkweed and other garden plants. We will continue to use this growing forward.
Some gardeners also use an all-purpose slow release fertilizer that continuously feeds plants nutrients throughout the season. The advantage to continuous, slow-release plant food is that you don’t have to apply it on a weekly basis.
Is fertilizer harmful to caterpillars? 🐛☠️
Over the years we’ve had zero issues with fertilizer making caterpillars sick, and I’ve never heard of any issues from our community for both organic fertilizer and non.
Vertical Gardening
Vertical Gardening takes your butterfly garden to new heights, maximizing your available space. Arbors and trellises are popular structures for vertical gardens, but you can also start by using a fence.
A variety of stylish, high-quality arbors for unwavering butterfly vine support. Most of these include free shipping, as do the trellises below.
We utilize 3 trellises in our garden to extend our garden borders north. Choose from a large assortment of quality garden trellises at affordable prices.
Hang these convenient planters directly on your fence, patio, or balcony. Are there plants you don’t grow because of rabbits? These planters make Bugs & friends a non-issue!
Misting & Watering
Water is an essential component of butterfly garden success…and in more ways than you might think. Of course, you need water for healthy butterfly garden plants. But water is also a resource that can help you attract and sustain more butterflies.
