We've barely changed our calendars to August, but this is the right time to give thought to creating a welcoming habitat for some of the most beautiful and interesting creatures on earth and adding splotches of color and life to the wilting summer landscape. Most folks think of late spring and summer as the ideal time for butterfly gardening, and if you didn’t start yours then — or even if you did — now is a great time to add fall flowers for the butterflies. They need the energy for their long winter migrations to come.

     Many species of butterflies migrate during fall months to spend their winters in a warmer, more welcoming climate. Perhaps the most well-known of these is the monarch butterfly, which travels thousands of miles to winter in California or Mexico. They migrate in both the spring and fall rather than following the food supply as many other butterflies do. These monarchs and other species need a good supply of food in the form of nectar before their journey and along the way as fuel for their long trip.

     Luckily, there is a wide variety of fall butterfly-attracting flowers and plants available that will grow well in our area. That old-timey field flower, goldenrod, which flourishes in the fall, is a good choice for our fluttery friends. Native plants, such as Joe-Pye Weed is another easy grower for the butterfly garden. In well-drained soil in a sunny location, it will reward you with tall plants and masses of small flowers that will also attract bees as well as butterflies.

     Other great choices for your fall blooming butterfly garden include sunflowers, Mexican sunflowers, mountain mint, milkweed, cosmos, zinnias, French marigolds, lavender, oregano and many plants in the sage family. Keeping the butterflies in the yard as long as possible is a great way to extend the season and enjoy the fluttering among the flowers. With butterfly season in Alabama stretching from early spring to late fall, choose a variety of annuals, perennials and shrubs to provide continuous flowering.

     Butterflies seem to prefer purple, red, orange and yellow flowers, and large sweeps of flowering plants are most attractive to these near-sighted creatures. They also love tube-shaped flowers, which accommodate their sucking up the liquid food into their straw-like mouths. Compound flowers such as verbena, daisies and butterfly bushes offer variety for nectar sipping.

     Butterflies have a highly developed sense of smell in their antenna and seek flowers with rich nectar, which fragrant, flowering plants provide.

     Try to place your autumn butterfly garden in almost full sun. The sun's warming energy provides the correct environmental temperature and, along with stepping stones or a gravel path, butterflies will have ample opportunity to warm themselves. Remember to provide water for your butterflies. This is very important and easily done. Just fill a clay tray or saucer with water and add a rock for the butterfly to rest on.

     Some ancient peoples believed that butterflies, with their four stages of development, embodied human souls. The stages include the egg, larva (caterpillar), chrysalis, and winged adult. Adult butterflies lay eggs on host plants so that the larvae will have the food necessary for them to mature. At the end of the larval stage, they need a sturdy, protected place to attach and form the chrysalis. Adults then survive by eating sweet-flower nectar. Black swallowtails lay their eggs on any member of the carrot family including dill, carrot, parsley, fennel or Queen Anne's lace.

     So, whether it is the black swallowtail, the Zebra swallowtail, the tiger swallowtail, the cloudless sulphur or the monarch, welcome as many of these marvelous creatures into your garden as you can this fall. With minimal effort, we can contribute to the well-being of not only ourselves, but some of the most at-risk creatures on earth. The potential loss of our butterfly population due to loss of habitat, indiscriminate pesticide use and predators adds an extra incentive to share a little part of our backyards and help these lovely creatures rebound, survive and bless future generations for years to come.

Butterfly Attracting Annuals:

Violet and white alyssum

Lantana

White, pink, red and yellow cosmos

Impatiens

Marigolds

Verbena

Zinnias

Pentas

Butterfly Attracting Perennials:

Aster

Bee balm

Butterfly weed (milkweed)

Salvias

Phlox

Purple coneflower

Black-eyed Susans

Goldenrod

Joe Pye weed