Butterfly-Friendly Gardening

Summer is the butterfly season in full bloom! At Turtle Bay’s Arboretum and Garden’s Nursery, Senior Horticulturist and Nursery Specialist Linda Russo points out a multitude of drought-tolerant butterfly plants that thrive in our area with beautiful blooms and interesting foliage.

Some of these plants are well-known, such as lavenders, rosemaries, sages, and a host of other lovely scented plants in the Lamiaceae, or mint family (easily identifiable by the square stems of all the plants in this family).

Butterflies also like flowers with landing pads. California native drought-tolerant plants, including these flowers, are Achillea or yarrow (common yarrow is also a great lawn replacement plant), Eriogonum or buckwheats, which include our own local Eriogonum umbellatum sulphur buckwheat, provide butterflies shelter with nearby shrubs. The shrub California false indigo does double duty as a fast-growing, drought-tolerant shrub that has burgundy-purple blooms with nectar for butterflies.

A plant saucer or other shallow container provides water with a bit of mud for minerals and pebbles to land on. This is called “butterfly puddling” and attracts butterflies. Most importantly, don’t use pesticides in your butterfly-friendly garden (butterflies are insects, too!).

All the plants mentioned are available for sale at Turtle Bay’s Arboretum and Garden’s Nursery, 9am-1pm, every Wednesday-Saturday.