5 Herbs to Include in a Butterfly Garden
Today’s blog post we are talking herbs that are wonderful additions for creating a beautiful butterfly garden, or even just additions to attract butterflies to your current garden!
Attracting beneficial wildlife to your garden is not only good for you, but it is also good for the environment. Butterflies and bees cannot tolerate any rate of toxins, so they are great indicators that you are gardening organically, and that is good for you as well.
Lavender
Lavender is showy and fragrant, making it perfect for both beneficial insects and gardeners alike! Since there are so many varieties and colors of lavender, they are perfect choices for any style garden. Lavender is best known for its oil. Medicinally, it is a gentle healer and the soothing, relaxing properties are widely known. No need for essential oils, however. You can grow lavender in the garden for the insects, then harvest the flower buds just before they open and enjoy them yourself, the rest of the year. One thing about lavender, it blooms early and continues until hard frost. Very reliable and especially good for attracting insects, lavender is a must-have in the butterfly garden.
Catmint
Classified as catnip or catmint, this is an herb that needs to be in your butterfly garden. Herbaceous and perennial, catnip will take over the garden if not kept contained, so plant this lovely herb in a pot and then plant that pot right into the ground to slow the roots down. Not just for cats, catnip is a fierce attractant for butterflies. Be warned that the effects of catnip on cats are entirely true! For most cats, catnip is an intoxicating scent and they will not only come into your garden, but they will also be all over the plant, rolling and chewing it. Catnip comes in different varieties, both tall, short, and sprawling which makes it a great choice for all types of landscaping.
Chives
Perfect for any herb garden, chives suit the butterfly garden especially well. Since they are a clumping herb, they will stay put for the most part only becoming rounder and larger over the years, never popping up in unexpected places. Bees and butterflies are especially attracted to chives. The fat, fluffy blossoms are irresistible to insects.
Fennel
Fennel is the perfect addition to your beneficial butterfly garden and really any garden. It is showy, growing up to five or more feet tall, and at least that large around. Insects are drawn to it like no other herb. It is easy to grow, it is recommended that you do NOT grow fennel next to dill, however. Fennel works so well at attracting and protecting beneficial insects, We recommend growing it in two locations: one for yourself, which you can keep trimmed and tidy, and a second patch that you can allow to grow to it's glorious, full height.
Yarrow
Yarrow is a wonderful choice for your beneficial insect butterfly garden. It's spicy scent and showy flowers can withstand pretty harsh treatment, and continue to bloom long after the other flowers succumb to drought or lack of sunlight.
We hope you enjoyed our post today and let us know on our Facebook or Instagram your thoughts and any tips and ticks you may have to enhance a butterfly garden!