Theme Garden Design - Children and Butterflies Garden

Wiese Acres Children and Butterflies Garden

Butterfly gardens are fairly common.  Who doesn't love the sight of butterflies flitting through the air, stopping for a sip of nectar at every petal?  To me, they seem so carefree, which  made it a natural to combine the butterfly theme with a children's theme.

A successful butterfly garden requires two commitments from the gardener:  the right plants to attract the butterflies and restraint in the use of chemical pesticides.

As nasty as those grasshoppers, flea beetles, or spider mites become, spraying pesticides to rid yourself of them will also kill all your butterflies and other beneficial insects.  A butterfly gardener has to be willing to put up with some imperfections - ragged leaves, stripped stems, pock-marked petals.  In exchange, you'll be rewarded with many beautiful butterflies.

The Wiese Acres Children and Butterflies Garden is made to meander through.  There are lots of pathways and seating areas for children and adults.  There are a few statues of children playing and some child-sized gardening tools left lying about.  Under the large cottonwood tree, two children run a sack race, mother and baby rest on a park bench beside gramma and grampa, while dad gives a piggy-back ride to another youngster.  I keep a large shallow bowl filled with play sand covered with water and a few small rocks for butterfly resting places setting in amongst the flowers for the butterflies to stop and sip water from.  Otherwise, most of the decor in this garden comes from the flowers and the butterflies themselves.

Choosing the right plants is the key to  draw butterflies.  Virtually any flower that provides fragrance and nectar for them to drink will bring butterflies to your garden, but there are some plants that are more attractive to our winged friends than others.  Asters, Monarda (bee balm), Rudbeckia (black-eyed susan), Gaillardia (blanket flower), Hemorocallis (daylilies), Eupatorium (Joe-Pye weed), Lavender, Phlox, Echinacea (coneflower), Salvia, and Coreopsis all attract several different species of butterflies to Wiese Acres.

Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) is a beloved flower for all butterflies.  One time I looked out the window and saw my Sweet William swaying to and fro like it was in a gale force wind.  Since everything else was still, I had to go investigate.  The plant was actually standing still like all the others around it, but the blossoms of the Sweet William plant were so covered with butterflies that when they flitted around, it looked like the entire plant was moving.


Asclepias, or butterfly weed, is aptly names.  It is the host plant for monarch butterfly caterpillars.  I have several of these planted throughout the garden.  The caterpillars generally strip the plant bare of everything but its stems by early August.  The plants don't look very attractive at that time, but I console myself with knowing what will happen in just a few short weeks.  When the monarch butterlifes begin to hatch, they fill the yard with color.  When they first emerge, they are a little slow moving and voraciously hungry, so you can get very close to them without scaring them off.  I can spend hours watching them flit around, drinking deeply.  They especially seem to love Joe-Pye weed for one of their first meals. 

The children's theme of the garden is carried through in plants such as "Children's Festival"  and "All God's Children" daylilies and fun flowers, such as "Mexican Hat" (ratibida) and snapdragons.  I believe the key to a successful children's themed garden, though, is to make it kid friendly.  There are plenty of trees for children to play around, pathways to walk on, and durable plants that won't complain too much if little feet stray off the path.