Today is National Learn About Butterflies Day! The mighty little heroes in our gardens help to pollinate our flowering plants. There is something amazing when you see a butterfly land on a flower you planted by seed, gathering nectar, and then flying away.

Raising monarchs is an incredible way to witness the miracle of a butterfly. It still makes me emotional as I watch them emerge from their chrysalis after days of pure silence, watching that tiny green jewel hanging from a milkweed plant, knowing what will happen in a few days.

Butterflies mean so much to me and are more than just a pollinator but a reminder that a butterfly is free and beautiful because the caterpillar was brave not to resist change but to accept the change in order to grow.  We are growing and changing, even when we cannot feel it.

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” ― Maya Angelou

Four Steps to Attract Butterflies to Your Garden

• Just like bees, butterflies don’t have an open mouths to drink water. They have a proboscis, tube-like straw that unwinds to suck up their water and nectar. Butterflies and bees never submerge themselves into water. To help add a water source on hot summer days in your garden, you can take a small saucer with rocks and pour water on top or use a damp sponge.

• Butterflies need the sun to dry their wings to have the strength to dry. So when planting any flowers, make sure they require full sun and are planted where the sun shines most in your area.

• Plant bright-colored flowers. Adult butterflies love bright-colored such as orange, pink, yellow, purple, red, and white. Avoid any pesticides when planting flowers. Reducing/eliminating the use of chemicals and pesticides in your garden will make it even safer for butterflies. We are a pesticide-free garden.

• Plant Pollentaor flowers. Flowers that are clustered and have small tubes, such as the Butterfly Bush, Butterly weed, Sunflowers, Cosmos, Sage, Marigold, Zinnias from the pollen florets, and many more, are buffets for butterflies.