Use plants that are 3 feet tall or less. Patches with all tall plants may look more ‘wild’ than you or your neighbors desire, so in locations where this may be an issue, use shorter plants for most of your butterfly landscape (see Short Flowering Plants below).

Have a border of some type. Borders such as a path, line of rocks or timbers, etc, can help make your butterfly area look ‘intentional.’

Beware of turf grass around the edges of your planted area. Most turf grass is extremely aggressive and will quickly invade your native planting, making the landscape look more “weedy,” competing with the natives and increasing maintenance.

Pros and cons of planting seeds. Using seeds is slower but much more economical than buying already started plants. Plant starts will often bloom the first year, while plants grown from seed will sometimes take a year or two (or sometimes longer) to get mature enough to bloom. Keep in mind that most native seeds also need to overwinter in the ground (or in damp sand in the refrigerator for 1-3 months) to break dormancy. Prairie Moon Nursery is a great online resource for individual plant needs, site preparation, and planting technique.

Plant some of the caterpillar host plants as well. Without food for their caterpillars, there will be no beautiful adults! These plants also draw in adult female butterflies looking for a place to lay their eggs as well as adult male butterflies looking for females. See our Recommended Butterfly Plants below.

Include native grasses (see Grasses below) in your design to fill space between flowering plants. Bare ground means more unwanted “weeds” and more maintenance. The best butterfly garden designs consist of integrated plant communities, not isolated plants separated by mulch. If you’re interested in reading more about this design concept, check out the books: Garden Revolution (L. Weaner & T. Christopher), Planting: a New Perspective (P. Oudolf & B. Kingsbury), and Planting in a Post-Wild World (T. Rainer & C. West).

Try to plant your garden in a sunny area. Most of the flowers and grasses listed do best with at least 6 hours of direct sun per day.