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Butterfly
Garden
Give a fluttery butterfly
a sweet-smelling place to get a drink, and you'll have them as visitors
to your potted plants. Even without a meadow, brightly- colored
flowers in a sunny spot will draw visitors.
One or two pots may attract
a couple of fly-bys, but you'll want to set out several together
to really draw a crowd. Remember that colors like orange, red, and
purple signal butterflies that nectar is waiting. Choose flowers
with a strong smell. You want to draw them in with promises of riches.
"Old fashioned" flowers usually smell better than new
hybrids. Flat-shaped flowers are both food and furniture, as the
butterflies can rest their wings while eating.
If you choose flowers
which bloom one after another, your visitors can linger over a longer
part of the season. To really give them a treat, set out a shallow
bowl of water so they can get a drink when needed. Pesticides are
always harmful to the flying jewels. Of course, you'll want to keep
cats away - no one wants to eat when they might become a meal.
Some good flowers include:
Lantana, Lantana camara
Common Cosmos, Cosmos bipinnatus*
Black-Eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta
Zinnia, Zinnia elegans*
*Easy to grow from seed.
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