More elements of butterfly gardening

You will want to add a few other things to your butterfly garden. A damp area that has sand or mud will attract many species of butterflies, especially males. The males need the salts in the sand or mud, which helps in their fertility. A lot of times, you can see a group of butterflies clustered around a mud puddle. This has a name, "puddling". These butterflies are males, imbibing the salts. You can put a few small rocks in the puddling area, to give the butterflies places to rest and warm their wings. Try to keep the area damp, if possible. My puddling area is below the birdbath. The birds splash the water out of the bath onto the ground. This may be good or bad, since the birds will sometimes see the butterflies as a tasty and convenient meal!
For more information on butterfly gardening, see www.socialbtrflies.com.