The Butterfly Garden

I'm not sure when the idea of a butterfly garden first came along. I know that over the years, as i've visited garden shops, i've always loved to be near the flowers and plants that the bees and butterflies were at...it was a peaceful spot to be. In any case, Emma loves flowers. And bugs. And bees.

And dirt.

Such a girly girl, isn't she?

When you put all of those things together that she loves, you come up with a butterfly garden! The hardest part of the planning of the butterfly garden wasn't picking out the plants, but remembering that the plants grow bushy so giving them enough space to grow was important. Most bushes/plants/flowers that attract butterflies and bees spread so the last thing i wanted to do in two years time was dig up and move a monster of a butterfly bush because i planted i told Robert to plant them too close together.

We planned the butterfly garden for the side of the house that gets the most sun. All of the plants are sun loving plants and will enjoy the spot that we put them in. We shopped at Bates Nursery, which is one of my most favorite places. The staff there is amazing and knowledgeable and i love that they have Bella, a sweet dog, who roams the gardens. I wanted to put a tree over there, but in the end, we kept it to flowers and bushes. All that is left to add to the spot to make it perfect is a bench for Emma so she won't continue to sit in the dirt.

The spot turned out really well. Here are the list of plants that we planted:

~butterfly bushes
~lantana (this spreads beautifully, btw)
~sedum (Autumn Joy is my favorite sedum)
~daisies (my grandmother's favorite)
~yarrow
~blackeye susan (my great-grandmother's favorite)

I love planting in the fall as it makes Spring seem not so far away!