I finally have a house that is big enough for a nice butterfly garden. I live in Zone 5 in west Michigan. If you were starting from scratch (well I have a few coneflowers already) what would be your must haves for the garden. Be as specific as you want because I love advice from experts. Also, if anything is plantable in the fall let me know so I can hopefully get a jump on it and not have to wait until next spring. Thank You!!
Advice on starting a garden
This looks like it might be in your area. They've got a gardening section on their website.
http://www.sembabutterfly.com/index.html
Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com
Thanks for the link. I am in southwest Michigan but most of the info was still applicable.
Don't forget about trees and shrubs. A lot of times we think of butterfly plants as forbs, but of course the butterflies don't think that - they just want flowers and leaves. Tulip poplar, for example, is on that list from southeast MI, but I think yall have a lot of appropriate smaller trees, too. (Ooh, and berries!) So if I were looking to plant in the fall (which technically probably would be late summer for yall), I would especially be looking to get those in and let them start establishing themselves.
I'm a big fan of the Pollinator Partnership guides, http://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/EBFContinentalrx11.pdf (They have you in an intriguingly shaped eco-region. Probably would make more sense to you than it does to me. Something glacial?)
Have fun! Keep us posted...