Everything you need to do for butterfly -worthy yards this spring
It’s astounding that 75% of the foods we eat, including chocolate, completely depend on pollinators like bees and butterflies. Creating hospitable homes for these creatures in your garden or landscape not only creates great photo opportunities for your website and Instagram account, but also does a lot of good for the environment and your taste buds.
With spring just around the corner, there is no better time then right now to start planning your garden or landscape.
So if you’re ready to wow your social media followers with stunning pictures of beautiful butterflies enjoying your landscape, here are some helpful tips:
Tip # 1: Think local! Bees and butterflies tend to prefer native over non-native plant species for pollination. Ensure you’re buying plants that are indigenous to your area.
Tip # 2: Plant the rainbow! Bees and butterflies are most attracted to areas with a wide array of brightly-coloured flowers. So don’t be afraid to mix it up! You really can’t go wrong with choosing a variety of colourful pansies and primroses, for instance.
If you want to get serious about attracting as many pollinators as possible, keep in mind that bees are known to be especially attracted to blues and purples. At Planter’s Barn, we carry some marvellous blue flowers like blue flax, great blue lobelia and purples like smooth asters, harebells and coneflowers that are sure to please bees and your social media followers!
When it comes to butterflies, however, they tend to prefer warmer colours like reds, yellows and oranges. We’ve got some truly exceptional red blanket flowers and some lovely yellow sweet black-eyed Susan that are sure to bring all the butterflies (and envious passers-by!) to your yard.
Tip # 3: Sun not shade- Bees and butterflies prefer warmth and sun to cooler, shadier areas. Make sure that at least some of your plants get plenty of sun!
Tip # 4: To truly feel at home, pollinators like bees and butterflies need both nectar flowers (like thistle) and host plants (like milkweeds). Planter’s Barn is fully stocked with a ton of variety of North American nectar flowers and host plants.
Tip # 5: Ditch the synthetic pesticides- they will deter bees and butterflies from entering your garden.
Finally, to make it super easy for you, you can shop our website here http://bit.ly/1oxD3oQ by colour, bloom time, plant type and more to ensure that you find exactly what you’re looking for in half the time.
Happy planting!
-The Planter’s Barn team
