butterflies

Many butterflies that visit zone 6 gardens can also be found as far north as Canada and as far south as Mexico. It is amazing that a monarch butterfly, for example, looks so delicate but can fly from here to Mexico and back.

Gayfeather (Liatris spicata) is a lovely native plant that attracts butterflies, bumble bees, and other insects.

A suitable habitat for birds includes predictable water sources, an open area of lawn, some dense shrubs for cover, some tall trees, plants with berries, and nesting places for ground birds.

Lindera is a host plant for the promethean moth and the spicebush swallowtail butterfly.

Winter mornings can be drab, which is why many people look forward to birds and butterflies returning in spring. Butterflies are good at brightening the day. It sems fitting, since they evolved from the drab moth when they moved into the daytime over 200 million years ago.