Building Backyard Habitat
by Patricia Landis du Plessis

Although "fluttering flowers" are about the most beautiful of nature's critters, butterfly habitats are disappearing at a rate of 3,000 acres per day in the U.S. due to urban sprawl, pesticide and insecticide uses, and genetically altered crops. While urban sprawl is beyond the control of most of us, we can do something about pesticides. Many butterflies spend their entire short lives in areas not much bigger than most backyards. Whether or not we mow our lawns or spray our roses with chemicals has a direct impact on them.

Butterfly habitat conservation is not difficult! By conserving and protecting what we already have or by creating a butterfly garden, we can provide the habitat necessary to support the entire life history of some butterflies. If we change our mowing habits and allow the native re-growth of wildflowers in our meadows and valleys, the butterflies will return. If we plant specific gardens and do not use chemicals, we create eco-friendly habitats that attract native butterflies.

Think of your backyard as a miniature wildlife sanctuary, part of a network of other backyard sanctuaries. Together these backyards form a habitat that can provide the food, water, and protection for all the life stages of the butterfly. We can insure the habitat will be low maintenance by using native plants and perennials.

Here are some easy steps for creating a miniature wildlife sanctuary:

1. Eliminate pesticides. The sole purpose of pesticides is to destroy insects; and butterflies are insects.


2. Provide host plants as caterpillar food and nectar plants as butterfly food. Aside from the nectar rich flowers that most butterflies are attracted to, be sure your garden or yard includes caterpillar host plants on which caterpillars can feed and where the female butterflies will lay their eggs. Some caterpillars absolutely cannot survive on a plant other than their own host plant. Monarch caterpillars cannot survive on anything but milkweed, while Eastern Black Swallowtails may survive on parsley, dill, fennel or Queen Anne's Lace.


3. Butterflies love the sun! They are like little solar panels. Although in the midday sun they may prefer a shady spot, otherwise they spend their time in the open. Butterflies are cold blooded and must warm themselves up in the morning before they can fly. They cannot fly if the temperature is less than 60 degrees.


4. Make sure your flowering plants bloom at different times, so that your garden provides nectar from spring through autumn... and include colors like red, orange, yellow and purple.


5. Look around and see which native plants and wildflowers the butterflies in your area are attracted to, and use them in your own backyard.


6. Lose the lawn and hold the poisons. Rearrange your idea of pretty and think of all the critters that sustain themselves in the tall grasses and along the driveway when it is not a manicured environment.


7. Let your love for butterflies show. Butterflies pay less attention to people than do birds, so you can sit nearby and watch without disturbing them. If you wear bright colors, they may even mistake you for a nectar source and visit you right up close!

Rainbow's End Butterfly Farm & Nursery raises monarch butterflies. At Rainbow's End Farm we create, conserve, and protect a milkweed/monarch habitat, and we encourage you to do the same. We have also been designated a Monarch Waystation since we provide milkweeds, nectar plants and shelter for monarchs throughout their annual cycle of reproduction and migration. Visit our farm in Pawling, New York from 11 AM to 4 PM any Saturday from June through September, and purchase butterfly habitats. And come and see our butterfly flight-house... just a little lower than the angels.