Be a Butterfly Hero – Grow a Butterfly Garden in a Pot
on Apr 06, 2015, Updated Jul 18, 2020
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Did you know that the monarch butterfly population has declined by over 90% in the last few years and over 30% of the butterfly habitats have been destroyed due to modern agricultural and gardening practices? It’s a very sad fact, but it’s true.
Luckily, you can help by growing a butterfly garden to provide food and habitats to these important insects. If you think you need a lot of room to grow a butterfly garden, think again! All you need is a nice pot and the right plants. Here’s how you can be a butterfly hero by growing your own butterfly garden in a pot!
Be a Butterfly Hero – Grow a Butterfly Garden in a Pot
Supplies
- Plants that attract butterflies and also are suited to container growing. I learned about the plants on Monrovia’s website, but I bought my plants while we were in Missouri as our gardening centers aren’t stocking very many plants yet and theirs were. But did you know that you can also order plants directly online and have them shipped to your gardening center? Yes! Shipping is free to the garden center of your choice. Head over to Shop Monrovia to find the perfect plants for you!
- A flat rock for the butterflies to rest on
- Moist sand or mud, for puddling of water
- One large pot
- A cute little sign so they know where to go. 😀 okay – not really necessary, but a cute touch.
Butterfly Habitats Should Include:
A butterfly habitat needs food, shelter, and water. They need both nectar-rich plants and if you want them to stick around a while and lay eggs, you’ll need host plants as well.
Nectar-rich plants include:
- Purple Coneflower
- Phlox
- Meadow Blazing Star
- Verbena
- Aster
- Pansy
- Butterfly Bush
- Butterfly Weed
- Lantana
- Black Eyed Susan
- Daisy
Host plants include:
- Milkweed
- Fennel
- Parsley
- Dill
- And many of the nectar-rich plants are also host plants as well, like aster and coneflower.
To learn more about flowers, shrubs, and plants of all kinds, head over to Monrovia Plants!
Putting it all together:
Make sure your container drains well – so add holes if need be. Plant the flowers in the soil. Then place your butterfly garden in a sunny location and wait for the butterflies to come!
Once you’ve decided to be a butterfly hero by avoiding pesticides and providing butterflies a place to rest their wings and lay their eggs, take a picture of your butterfly heroes signing the word Butterfly and upload the picture to the National Wildlife Federation’s Butterfly Hero program! As a thank-you, the NWF will send out a butterfly kit while supplies last.
Tell me which nectar-rich flowers you will include in your butterfly garden in a pot and show me your butterfly heroes!
Such a great idea–I love Monarchs!
Thank you, Meryl! We have monarchs around here, but I’d love to see more. <3
Thank you for sharing this! I was looking for a project to do with my oldest son and this is absolutely perfect.
Have fun, Michelle! And enjoy watching the butterflies. 🙂
So cute! I love this idea! And Butterflies!
Thanks, Beth!! Your girls would have a lot of fun. <3
My kids LOVE butterflies! Great idea!
Thanks, Ally! Have fun… 🙂
Michelle this is so much fun!! What a GREAt activity for the kiddos!
Thanks so much, Michaela! We did really enjoy this. Can’t wait to find butterflies this summer. 🙂
You did an AWESOME job on this post! I LOVE IT!
Thanks, Bobbie. It was a really a lot of fun. 🙂
This is awesome. Years ago, like about 8 years, our daughters teacher sent home milkweek seeds and the kids put together a butterfly garden at school. We planted the milkweed, it is a gorgeous plant. We also have coneflowers, dill, daisies, and phlox in the garden. We love watching for butterflies, they are beautiful flitting around the flowers. Thanks for the list of other plants to bring the butterflies to us, I love your planter, the galvanized tin is one of my favorites!
This is beautiful! We’re making a butterfly garden this year at my Mom’s so I love the plant ideas!
such a cute idea! I have all of these galvanized buckets I could use! I also would like to do a fairy garden for little miss Linley. Now to get my dog to stay out of the planters!
We have that problem too with our dog. And the chickens. Fairy gardens are fun as well. And fairies need plants. 😀
Thanks for stopping by my blog. Looks like we were of like minds this past week. I have butterfly friendly plants in my yard, but never thought of doing a butterfly container garden. Good Idea.
Much more my speed!
May I ask what soil you used?
Hi Stacey, just organic potting soil suited for outdoor flowers, nothing special. 🙂
What flowers did you use?