-by Greg Hoots-

When my wife, Cheryl and I moved into our present home, there were no flower beds established on the lot.  There was a long, narrow flower bed along the front of the house, but there was no sign that anything had ever been planted in it, or at least there were no signs of flowers having grown there.  The first year we filled it with flowering annuals, and between the rows of flowers, we planted two rows of green beans.  The beans added some green foliage to the spartan bed.

This Monarch pauses on a Cosmos plant to warm itself in the morning sun.

In the years that followed, our gardening moved to the back yard where we planted a small area about 8-foot wide by 24-feet in length. We established raised beds to limit the amount of weeding we would have to do, as we chose a sunny area once sewn in grass for our little vegetable garden.

The vegetable garden as it appeared in this view from 2011 was very organized.

As the years passed, my wife began to plant perennial plants and the beds began to fill, so we expanded the garden several times.  About five years ago, Cheryl began planting crops which provided a breeding habitat for butterflies.  Initially, we planted milkweed, the only plant on which the Monarch butterfly will lay its eggs, but we soon expanded our “host” garden to include dill and parsley plants, the host plants most favored by several varieties of Swallowtail butterflies common in Kansas.

A once-formerly unused and unkempt hillside has been transformed to a feeding oasis for Kansas butterflies.

We continued to plant more flowering perennials in an effort to provide nectar sources for feeding butterflies that visited our garden.  Last year, I tilled a very steep hill in the backyard that had always been problematic, as it was too steep to accommodate mowing by a gas-powered mower.  After tilling the hillside, I planted it in Zinnias and Cosmos flowers, both popular with butterflies, hummingbirds and bees.

This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was captured by the camera in flight in the nectar garden.

We also planted a section of perennials on the hillside, establishing a stand of Black-Eyed-Susans and Shasta Daisies. I covered these perennial favorites with straw throughout the winter months, and they thrived during their second year in the garden.

Black-Eyed Susans thrive in the perennial section of the nectar garden.

In 2018, we captured scores of caterpillars in the garden, feeding them for two weeks until they morphed into the chrysalis stage before becoming showy butterflies which we released into the backyard sanctuary.

Cheryl releases a freshly hatched Monarch butterfly.

In 2018 we released 49 Monarch and Swallowtail butterflies in the back yard, and the nectar garden provided food for hundreds of visiting butterflies and hummingbirds throughout the year.

Tiger Swallowtails abound in the nectar garden in July and August. Swallowtails do not migrate, but overwinter in Kansas.

The Nectar Garden at Night

Nighttime brings thousands of moths and other insects of the night to the butterfly garden where they feast on the same nectar that the butterflies and hummingbirds eat during the day.

The nighttime brings new opportunity to see the flowers of the garden in photos.

A Passion Flower vine wraps around the trellis entering the hillside garden.

The showy Zowie Zinnias are a favorite of butterflies.

Zinnias have a short growing cycle, making them ideal for most growing zones.

Zinnias are easy to grow and are a favorite of butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.

Giant Red Zinnia

Giant Purple Zinnia

Black-Eyed Susan

The showy green Luna moth is a curious anomaly in the butterfly garden.  This butterfly-like moth eats nothing during its short life in the moth state.  Luna moths can often be seen hanging from bushes and flowers at dusk where they remain suspended until midnight when they take flight to begin their mating ritual.

This male Luna moth chose a Crepe Myrtle plant in the butterfly garden to hang, awaiting his midnight mating ritual.

A male Luna moth hangs on a Crepe Myrtle in the butterfly garden, awaiting the midnight hour.

To view our butterfly garden, click on any photo below and look at the pictures in a gallery format or as a full screen image.

This Eastern Black Swallowtail was the first swallowtail to visit the nectar garden in 2019, arriving on July 9th.

This Eastern Black Swallowtail stops on a honeysuckle vine while visiting the butterfly garden.

The vegetable garden as it appeared in this view from 2011 was very organized.

The Columbine, the earliest flowering perennial of the year, dominates the garden in the spring months providing nectar for overwintering Swallowtails and early arriving Monarchs and hummingbirds.

The nectar garden provides about 500 square feet of flowering plants for butterflies, hummingbirds and bees.

Common milkweed, seen here, is the host for Monarch butterflies which lay their eggs exclusively on the native “weed”.

Honeysuckle provides an excellent source of nectar for butterflies, hummingbirds and bees which visit the garden.

A Monarch caterpillar dines on the leaf of a common milkweed plant.

The newly-hatched Monarch butterfly is virtually fearless as it emerges from the chrysalis stage as Cheryl prepares to release the butterfly into the nectar garden.

Upon emerging from the chrysalis stage, this Monarch butterfly hangs in the sun to dry its wings before beginning its first flight.

This Monarch pauses on a Cosmos plant to warm itself in the morning sun.

A Monarch butterfly feeds on the flower of a “butterfly plant” in the garden.

This common buckeye butterfly was one of many varieties which visit the nectar garden.

An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail feeds on a Zinnia on the hillside.

This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was captured by the camera in flight in the nectar garden.

An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail pauses to feed on a purple cone flower in the garden.

A Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly pauses on a Marigold in the butterfly garden.

A Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly feeds on the nectar of the flower of the common milkweed.

This Zebra Swallowtail, a butterfly whose caterpillar hosts on the leaves of the Paw Paw tree, was a late June visitor to the nectar garden.

An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail perches atop a Zinnia flower, feeding in the summer sun.

This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail pauses to feed on Cosmos, “Bright Lights”.

The Giant Swallowtail, the largest of the swallowtails, feeds on a Lantana flower in the nectar garden.

The Lantana flower blooms until the first frost, providing nectar for the late season butterflies, like this Giant Swallowtail.

A Giant Swallowtail is captured by the camera in flight in the nectar garden.

Zinnias are a favorite of the many Painted Lady butterflies that visit the garden in the summer months.

The plenitude of nectar-bearing flowers also provides an excellent habitat for moths, such as this “bumble-bee moth” commonly called that for it’s disguise as a stinging insect. Thousands of moths visit the garden at night.

A Pearl Crescent visits a Lantana flower in the nectar garden.

Tiger Swallowtails abound in the nectar garden in July and August. Swallowtails do not migrate, but overwinter in Kansas.

An late-season Eastern Black Swallowtail hangs on a Zowie Zinnia as it warms itself in the morning sun.

Dill is a favorite host plant for the Eastern Black Swallowtail.

Adding Parsley to a butterfly garden will provide a host for Swallowtails on which to lay their eggs, and food for the caterpillars that follow.

A once-formerly unused and unkempt hillside has been transformed to a feeding oasis for Kansas butterflies.

Black-Eyed Susans thrive in the perennial section of the nectar garden.

Cheryl releases a freshly hatched Monarch butterfly.

A Passion Flower vine wraps around the trellis entering the hillside garden.

The showy Zowie Zinnias are a favorite of butterflies.

Zinnias have a short growing cycle, making them ideal for most growing zones.

Zinnias are easy to grow and are a favorite of butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.

Giant Zinnia

Giant Purple Zinnia

Black-Eyed Susan