Butterfly Gardens in Western Massachusetts

Shrubs

• Flowering shrubs provide shelter and caterpillar and butterfly food. Spiraea (Spiraea betulifolia), suitable for USDA zones 5 through 8, attracts Atlantis fritillaries (Speyeria atlantis) to its nectar-rich flowers. Growing 2 to 3 feet tall and wide, it bears white flowers early in the season, from May to July. Remove spent flowers to encourage more blooms. Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) is an effective windbreak, growing 8 to 12 feet tall and 8 to 15 feet wide. Tolerating part and full shade, its showy June-through-July, fragrant flowers are attractive to butterflies. Bottlebrush buckeye is hardy in USDA zones 4 through 8.

Perennials

• Growing perennials takes some of the effort out of maintaining a butterfly garden, as they return year after year and require no pruning. Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) flowers during the peak butterfly season from June to August and provides food for many species with its yellow-orange flowers. Growing 1 to 2 1/2 feet tall and 1 to 1 1/2 feet wide, it's suitable for USDA zones 3 through 9. Michaelmas daisy "Celeste" (Aster "Celeste") prolongs the flowering season into August and September. Asters feed late season viceroy (Limenitis archippus) butterflies. Hardy in USDA zones 4 through 8, Michaelmas daisies grow 2 to 2 1/2 feet tall and wide.

Annuals

• Many butterfly-attracting annuals grow easily from seed sown direct into garden beds after spring frosts have finished. Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis) attracts American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) butterflies with its large, bright yellow or orange flowers, appearing in May and June. Pot marigolds grow 1 to 2 feet tall and wide and occasionally reseed themselves in gardens, returning spontaneously the following year. Creeping zinnia (Zinnia angustifolia) bears prolific, daisylike, butterfly-feeding flowers in a variety of colors from midsummer until first frost. Growing 9 to 18 inches tall and 9 to 12 inches wide, creeping zinnia suits the front of borders, where it tolerates full sun and drought.

Butterfly Gardens

• Butterflies need warmth, shelter, food, water and freedom from pesticides. Face your butterfly area south if possible, so that tall plants don't throw cooling shade, and site large shrubs to protect the garden from prevailing winds. Include a small, shallow bowl of mud, or wet sand, to provide butterflies with water, which encourages them to stay. Pesticide sprays can kill butterflies, so limit their use. Single shrubs, perennials in groups of odd numbers, such as three or five, and annuals sown in patches create a pleasing effect. Butterflies are attracted to groups of similar flower colors.