F E AT U R E
Butterfly
gardening
Faye Arcaro
The beauty of a garden is not only in the choice of plants
and landscaping, but in the incredible creatures that visit
or set up their homes within your boundary. Get to know
butterflies with Faye Arcaro and how you can encourage
more of these spectacular guests to your haven.
I m ag e s Faye A r c a r o
I
f you love the enchantment of watching butterflies dance around the garden on a warm sunny day and would
like to create a haven in your garden
but not sure where to start, then you’ve
come to the right place. There are some
really simple ways to encourage these
graceful beauties into your garden.
Before we go too far, it is helpful to
understand the life cycle of this beautiful
creature. Adult butterflies will lay eggs on
a suitable host plant and, after a period of
time, the egg will hatch and the caterpillar, also known as the larva, will emerge.
The larva will feast on the host plant
until such time as it is ready to undergo
its next stage and turn in to a pupa, or
chrysalis. As the chrysalis develops you
20
The Garden Guru Magazine / Issue No. 56 / Spring 2015
may notice a change in the appearance of
the pupa. In the case of a monarch butterfly, the pupa will become transparent
and the colour and patterns of the wings
will become more obvious. At this stage
you will not have to wait long before
the adult butterfly emerges. This whole
process is known as complete metamorphosis – the young are nothing like the
parent. The cycle from egg to adult takes
about 28 days but will vary dependant on
temperature. When the weather is cold it
will take longer, but less time during the
warmer months when the monarchs are
at their most active. Moths undergo the
same transformation and are often confused with butterflies. See the box below
>>
for the key differences.
Butterfly characteristics
Moth characteristics
Club-shaped antennae.
Rarely clubbed antennae, most
are comb-like or feathered.
Wings together in an upright position
at rest.
Wings lay flat and open when at rest.
Often seen in the daytime.
Moths are most active at night.
Pupa not encased in a cocoon.
Enclosed in silken cocoon, sometimes
with extra material attached.
Usually brightly-coloured.
Usually dull-coloured, although there
are stunning moths outside of Australia.
The Garden Guru Magazine / Issue No. 56 / Spring 2015
21
F E AT U R E
Butterfly
gardening
Faye Arcaro
The beauty of a garden is not only in the choice of plants
and landscaping, but in the incredible creatures that visit
or set up their homes within your boundary. Get to know
butterflies with Faye Arcaro and how you can encourage
more of these spectacular guests to your haven.
I m ag e s Faye A r c a r o
I
f you love the enchantment of watching butterflies dance around the garden on a warm sunny day and would
like to create a haven in your garden
but not sure where to start, then you’ve
come to the right place. There are some
really simple ways to encourage these
graceful beauties into your garden.
Before we go too far, it is helpful to
understand the life cycle of this beautiful
creature. Adult butterflies will lay eggs on
a suitable host plant and, after a period of
time, the egg will hatch and the caterpillar, also known as the larva, will emerge.
The larva will feast on the host plant
until such time as it is ready to undergo
its next stage and turn in to a pupa, or
chrysalis. As the chrysalis develops you
20
The Garden Guru Magazine / Issue No. 56 / Spring 2015
may notice a change in the appearance of
the pupa. In the case of a monarch butterfly, the pupa will become transparent
and the colour and patterns of the wings
will become more obvious. At this stage
you will not have to wait long before
the adult butterfly emerges. This whole
process is known as complete metamorphosis – the young are nothing like the
parent. The cycle from egg to adult takes
about 28 days but will vary dependant on
temperature. When the weather is cold it
will take longer, but less time during the
warmer months when the monarchs are
at their most active. Moths undergo the
same transformation and are often confused with butterflies. See the box below
>>
for the key differences.
Butterfly characteristics
Moth characteristics
Club-shaped antennae.
Rarely clubbed antennae, most
are comb-like or feathered.
Wings together in an upright position
at rest.
Wings lay flat and open when at rest.
Often seen in the daytime.
Moths are most active at night.
Pupa not encased in a cocoon.
Enclosed in silken cocoon, sometimes
with extra material attached.
Usually brightly-coloured.
Usually dull-coloured, although there
are stunning moths outside of Australia.
The Garden Guru Magazine / Issue No. 56 / Spring 2015
21
F E AT U R E
A. Lesser wanderer feeding on Duranta repens.
B. A monarch butterfly egg. C. A monarch butterfly
emerging. D. Monarch pupa where the wings are
showing colour and detail. E. Pupa of an Australian
admiral found a sheltered position on my workboot.
A
There are many varieties of plants
that will bring butterflies into your
garden, but in order to keep them there
you really need to supply a food plant
for their young. You want them to visit
your garden, but in order to breed
them as well we need to take things a
step further. It sounds easy, but each
variety of butterfly is likely to have its
own preference as to the food plant
of its larva or caterpillar. At this point
I’m going to talk about my experience
with the monarch butterfly as I’ve
found it to be one of the most common
and easiest butterflies to rear in my
garden (and inside too!). The monarch,
or wanderer, has mostly orange wings
with distinctive black markings and is
22
Did you know?
In Australia
there are around
400 species
of butterflies,
compared to over
21,000 moth
species.
The Garden Guru Magazine / Issue No. 56 / Spring 2015
one of the largest butterflies found in
Australia with a wingspan of around
12cm. This variety was first identified
in 1897 and became a common sight in
the 1960s where the introduced larval
food plants, the milkweeds (Asclepias)
were found. It is important to note that
some of these introduced milkweeds
such as the narrow leaf cottonbush or
swan plant (Asclepias fruticosa) are
declared noxious weeds and it is illegal
to grow them. The Asclepias curassavica,
also known as red head cottonbush
and tropical milkweed, may be legally
grown here.
Monarchs are attracted to introduced
species such as Buddleias, Lantana, Durantas and Cosmos, just to name a few.
B
C
D
E
These are great for nectar but nothing is
better than having their food plants to keep
them coming back to your garden. I have to
admit that I’m starting to feel a little guilty
about talking so much about the introduced plants when our native species are
just so beautiful, but what I have demonstrated is the specifics of a type of butterfly
that most people would be familiar with.
When we are interested in a particular subject our awareness seems to
grow. As we make new discoveries our
knowledge increases and we never stop
learning. I was at a nursery one day and
noticed that lots of butterflies were attracted to a Duranta ‘Geisha Girl’. Well,
guess what? I took five plants home with
me – this was a sign from nature.
These plants are a great source of
nectar. When the flowers are followed by
berries it also becomes a food source for
the birds who also love to shelter in it.
The Australian admiral butterfly is
another frequent visitor to our garden
and has been increasing in numbers
since I began to allow, as well as cultivate, the often frowned upon stinging
nettle into our gardens. My love affair
with stinging nettle has increased too.
Over the years when it appeared in my
garden my father would tell me to get rid
of it and that it is a nasty weed, where
others would start dreaming of nettle
tea, pizza with nettle and one day I came
across a recipe for nettle pesto pasta,
now a household favourite.
I pick the new leaves; if you wait too
long they will be covered with eggs and
young caterpillars and I just can’t bear
the thought of stopping the butterfly cycle in its prime. After all, my main aim is
to allow the birth of new butterflies.
As the season progresses the foliage
becomes chewed and many leaves rolled
as the caterpillar folds them around
its body and hides as it continues to
munch away.
When the larva is ready they look for
a sheltered position to attach a silken
thread, hang in a j-shape and transform
into a golden sparkling pupa. They are
so decorative, I think they would make
great earrings! I watched one hatch early one morning and take off on its maiden flight. It had just left the confines of
the chicken pen when an eagerly waiting
willie wagtail snapped it up for breakfast. My heart ached, but I realise that
is nature. I understand now why these
butterflies are such fast flyers and rarely stop in one position for long periods;
this is clearly a survival mechanism.
Here are some things that you can
do to create a habitat for butterflies in
your garden.
• Plant a range of plants rich in nectar.
I have given you a couple of examples but many local native Australian
plants are great too.
• Prepare a sunny part of the garden
with a few large flat rocks. This will
act as a heat sink for your butterflies
to bask in the sun.
• Plant some food plants for the larva,
ideally with a minimum of six hours
of direct sunlight.
• Butterflies need moisture and muddy
puddles provide them with a source
of minerals. A shallow saucer placed
at ground level would be appreciated
by lizards and frogs too.
• Avoid the use of toxic chemicals and
pesticides and you can achieve a
healthy ecosystem.
When you’ve done all this you can just
sit back and wait for those warm spring
days when the butterflies come to visit
your haven. Happy gardening!
The Garden Guru Magazine / Issue No. 56 / Spring 2015
23
F E AT U R E
A. Lesser wanderer feeding on Duranta repens.
B. A monarch butterfly egg. C. A monarch butterfly
emerging. D. Monarch pupa where the wings are
showing colour and detail. E. Pupa of an Australian
admiral found a sheltered position on my workboot.
A
There are many varieties of plants
that will bring butterflies into your
garden, but in order to keep them there
you really need to supply a food plant
for their young. You want them to visit
your garden, but in order to breed
them as well we need to take things a
step further. It sounds easy, but each
variety of butterfly is likely to have its
own preference as to the food plant
of its larva or caterpillar. At this point
I’m going to talk about my experience
with the monarch butterfly as I’ve
found it to be one of the most common
and easiest butterflies to rear in my
garden (and inside too!). The monarch,
or wanderer, has mostly orange wings
with distinctive black markings and is
22
Did you know?
In Australia
there are around
400 species
of butterflies,
compared to over
21,000 moth
species.
The Garden Guru Magazine / Issue No. 56 / Spring 2015
one of the largest butterflies found in
Australia with a wingspan of around
12cm. This variety was first identified
in 1897 and became a common sight in
the 1960s where the introduced larval
food plants, the milkweeds (Asclepias)
were found. It is important to note that
some of these introduced milkweeds
such as the narrow leaf cottonbush or
swan plant (Asclepias fruticosa) are
declared noxious weeds and it is illegal
to grow them. The Asclepias curassavica,
also known as red head cottonbush
and tropical milkweed, may be legally
grown here.
Monarchs are attracted to introduced
species such as Buddleias, Lantana, Durantas and Cosmos, just to name a few.
B
C
D
E
These are great for nectar but nothing is
better than having their food plants to keep
them coming back to your garden. I have to
admit that I’m starting to feel a little guilty
about talking so much about the introduced plants when our native species are
just so beautiful, but what I have demonstrated is the specifics of a type of butterfly
that most people would be familiar with.
When we are interested in a particular subject our awareness seems to
grow. As we make new discoveries our
knowledge increases and we never stop
learning. I was at a nursery one day and
noticed that lots of butterflies were attracted to a Duranta ‘Geisha Girl’. Well,
guess what? I took five plants home with
me – this was a sign from nature.
These plants are a great source of
nectar. When the flowers are followed by
berries it also becomes a food source for
the birds who also love to shelter in it.
The Australian admiral butterfly is
another frequent visitor to our garden
and has been increasing in numbers
since I began to allow, as well as cultivate, the often frowned upon stinging
nettle into our gardens. My love affair
with stinging nettle has increased too.
Over the years when it appeared in my
garden my father would tell me to get rid
of it and that it is a nasty weed, where
others would start dreaming of nettle
tea, pizza with nettle and one day I came
across a recipe for nettle pesto pasta,
now a household favourite.
I pick the new leaves; if you wait too
long they will be covered with eggs and
young caterpillars and I just can’t bear
the thought of stopping the butterfly cycle in its prime. After all, my main aim is
to allow the birth of new butterflies.
As the season progresses the foliage
becomes chewed and many leaves rolled
as the caterpillar folds them around
its body and hides as it continues to
munch away.
When the larva is ready they look for
a sheltered position to attach a silken
thread, hang in a j-shape and transform
into a golden sparkling pupa. They are
so decorative, I think they would make
great earrings! I watched one hatch early one morning and take off on its maiden flight. It had just left the confines of
the chicken pen when an eagerly waiting
willie wagtail snapped it up for breakfast. My heart ached, but I realise that
is nature. I understand now why these
butterflies are such fast flyers and rarely stop in one position for long periods;
this is clearly a survival mechanism.
Here are some things that you can
do to create a habitat for butterflies in
your garden.
• Plant a range of plants rich in nectar.
I have given you a couple of examples but many local native Australian
plants are great too.
• Prepare a sunny part of the garden
with a few large flat rocks. This will
act as a heat sink for your butterflies
to bask in the sun.
• Plant some food plants for the larva,
ideally with a minimum of six hours
of direct sunlight.
• Butterflies need moisture and muddy
puddles provide them with a source
of minerals. A shallow saucer placed
at ground level would be appreciated
by lizards and frogs too.
• Avoid the use of toxic chemicals and
pesticides and you can achieve a
healthy ecosystem.
When you’ve done all this you can just
sit back and wait for those warm spring
days when the butterflies come to visit
your haven. Happy gardening!
The Garden Guru Magazine / Issue No. 56 / Spring 2015
23