Successful Butterfly Gardening Successful Butterfly Gardening By Joanie Williams 40th Street Garden Center Growing numbers of people are discovering the rewards of butterfly gardening. They're not only creating a more colorful and fragrant yard, but they are enjoying the delicate beauty of the butterfly. The female butterfly lays eggs on particular plants that the larva or caterpillar will eat when they hatch.
Most larva can only digest a specific type of plant foliage.
This plant is known as the host plant. When a caterpillar is full grown it forms a pupa, which in most cases remains dormant during the winter and emerges as a butterfly in the spring. This is why it's important to have an abundance of early blooming flowers as a food supply. One of the first things to consider when starting a butterfly garden is the location. Your garden should receive at least 6 hours of full sun a day.