Ready to Get Muddy

I just wanted to say hello and let you know that I've become more interested in attracting butterflies since visiting this forum.

In the past few weeks, I've been on a shopping frenzy picking up an assortment of butterfly friendly plants and adding them to the border of my vegie garden. However, I didn't realize how many of my existing plants attract butterflies; such as purple coneflowers, an assortment of herbs, and azaleas. I've always tried to attract bees, beneficials, and birds.

Now I want to know more about adding a muddy area for butterflies. I've read about this somewhere, but can't remember which mag, book, or article. Has anyone tried this with success?

Greenbrain,
Welcome! It's incredible what you can learn here isn't it? I have a nature preserve w/ wetlands behind my house so "puddling" has never worked for me mostly because they're doing it elsewhere! I used sand and added saly to it and then made it wet. The male butterflies use it for the minerals, I believe. Someone will come along and give you more info..... :) I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Adrienne

Welcome greenbrain! Glad to hear we're getting ya interested and maybe even hooked! :-)

Here are some internet links about puddling:
http://www.blossomswap.com/butterfly/butterfly_puddle.html
http://www.wnrmag.com/stories/2001/aug01/butterfly.htm
http://www.treknature.com/gallery/Asia/India/photo116397.htm

Let us know how your butterfly habitat is coming along. (We like photos here, too!)

Hello Greebrain, and welcome to the fun.
This is how we arranged the puddle and the fermented fruit feeding.
We stacked logs that are rough and on those we smear the famous butterfly brew that one of our members gave us.
I will let her tell you about the recipe.
For the puddle we took a solid plant tray and drilled some holes on the upper sides, not the bottom.
This is to allow water to escape if there is too much rain, then we filled it with play sand mixed with composted cow manure,( we didn't want it to be too smelly ) and then arranged some rocks on the sand, and voila! a butterfly puddle.
Here is the picture of the arrangement.

Josephine - I love your puddling set-up for the butterflies. Very nice!!!!

Here are the two websites about the butterfly brew:

http://davesgarden.com/forums/p.php?pid=2008615

and Debnes website with instructional photos:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/p.php?pid=3601350

Thank you so much for sharing your links, recipes, and photos. You all made it seem so easy. I believe that I can do this! I live approx. 1 mile from the wetlands here and in the fly zone between Horseshoe Lake and the Mississippi River. I don't know how far butterflies travel, but maybe I'll catch 'em passing through. Also, this area has native spicebush growing all along the water's edge and roadways. I have youngsters living with me who share my interest, so I'll be getting them involved. I'll keep you posted. : )

We would love to see what you come up with. Have lots of fun.
Josephine.

Hello again,
I made a puddle today by burying the bowl from an old plastic birdbath. I borrowed sand from the kids' sandbox, some pebbles from a flowerpot, and composted cow manure from the vegie garden. Sorry that I'm unable to post a photo right now, but I'll try to do something soon.

I have a red zinnia next to the driveway that came up volunteer in my annual bed. I've seen more hummers & butterflies visit this one plant the past July & Aug. than I've ever seen before. Next year I'm planting more red zinnias. I finally took a photo of my mini "but-puddle". It's pretty pathetic. I may eventually get around to posting it. We'll see. Give ya'll something to laugh at anyway. lol : )

Please show us the picture, I bet it is better than you think.
Josephine.

Here goes:

Here's some of my flowers that didn't dry up. I started out with 3 bareroot coneflowers about ?? years ago. Now they've spread all over the place.

Welcome, Welcome Greenbrain. Let me tell ya you have come to the right place. And your sand puddle looks great. Just looking at the surrounding area it looks like you live in a beautiful place. Lots of trees and stuff. This is my first year with this stuff. I had to plant all new flowers and such but like you I started planting before I got on this forum and it is amazing how many plants I picked out that the BF's and hummers enjoy that I did not know about. Or maybe it is just that they like just about everything. LOL. Anyway, you and the young ones are going to have a blast and everything you need to know is right here on this forum and if not someone will find it for you. And you will become addicted, trust me. I have in a very short time. And the guys and gals on this forum are so willing to share anything they have, knowledge, plant roots, seeds, anything to help a person out. It is really awesome in here. And the enthusiasm is undeniably catching. You will be raising butterflies before you know it, helping out the environment and helping out the poor little BF's that struggle so hard on their own. Of course let me warn you, if you go into the salvia forum you will become addicted to Salvia's and go buy a bunch of those, if you go in the coneflower forum, same thing, you will become addicted and buy a bunch of those. At least that is my experience and I don't mind because it has made for a pretty good looking garden. Hopefully next year they all come back bigger and better. I see you already have coneys and they have spread for you. Good for you. I have about four or five coneflower plants now and they are not spreading as of yet, but again are very new. They are definitely ones I hope come back next year and spread a little for me. Anyways, I am babbling but just know that anything you need you will get it here and enjoy your new hobby and your new "friends". Oh and your sand puddle looks just like mine, except I don't have the lovely pine cones lying around it. I just have red clay dirt. LOL. Have fun.

Leslie