Almost any yard will have a spot where you can tuck in a butterfly bed, and many of the plants are easy care, long-blooming perennials. Find a spot away from lots of activity that might disturb the butterflies as they feast. Then try a few of the tips you’ll find below; they’ll help you make visiting butterflies welcome.

Although butterflies will visit almost any flower looking for food, some are better attractors. Colors in vivid shades of red yellow, orange, pink and purple are what butterflies look for when they are hungry. Even white flowers are good if they have bright gold centers like Shasta Daisies. Since butterflies’ eyesight is not very good, they will be more likely to find the flowers if you group them in large drifts. Try to choose lots of plants that bloom from midsummer into the fall--that is when you’ll have the most butterflies looking for food.

Choose a spot for your butterfly garden that gets at least 6 hours of direct sunlight. Butterflies are cold blooded and need warmth from sunshine to get moving. If your butterfly garden is planted near stones or concrete that absorb and hold the heat, your winged visitors can feast later into the evening.

Most North American butterflies have a fairly short feeding tube. That means flowers with short tubes are best, as are flat-topped or small clustered flowers, like the spikes of liatris. Flowers with long, flat petals such as shasta daisies, black-eyed-Susans, coreopsis and purple coneflowers also provide large landing areas with lots of nectar in the center. These are just a few suggestions as there are many other possibilities. Click here to see a list of these other possibilities.