Voila, instant puddle. An aesthetically pleasing garden that provides a continual array of color can be achieved by taking into consideration the growth form, height, blooming period and other characteristics of the plants you select or allow to grow naturally. Buddleia, or butterfly bush, is a plant that butterflies find especially alluring. At times, I've seen individuals of three or four different species imbibing together at this plant. It grows to a height of four to six feet, has slender silvery leaves, and blossoms with multiple florets, similar to lilacs.
Colors range from white to deep rose, pink, lavender, and blue.
In Wisconsin, the plant dies back to ground level during winter and sends up succulent new growth in the spring. Another butterfly favorite is the orange milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa, also know as butterfly weed. A native plant, it does best in sandy well-drained soil and full sun. A benefit , in addition to the beauty of the garden and pleasure of watching its visitors, is the opportunity to observe, to wonder, and perhaps to gain some insight into the workings of the natural world. The ways that butterflies colonize new resources, their associations with specific plants, the checks and balances provided by predators and parasites are but a few of the dynamics that can be examined within the butterfly garden.