Gardening for Butterflies

June 1, 2016

Named for an extinct butterfly, the Xerxes Society's purpose is invertebrate conservation. A previous work by the organization, Gardening for Butterflies: Creating Summer Magic in Your Garden became the template for this genre. The title introduces the monarch and other at-risk butterflies, such as the quino checkerspot, and discusses how each part of the insect's life cycle--egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, adult--places special demands on the environment. Host plants, nectar sites, water needs, and wintering places are covered. Generalized garden plans and color photographs of regional native plants, highlighting their value as hosts or food sources, plus resources for plants and seeds are also included. Examples of misguided acts that affect the invertebrate populations abound. However, instances of marginal spaces that become butterfly preserves prove that the web of life is actualized by gardening for butterflies. VERDICT Gardeners interested particularly in the ecological issues of pollinator conservation will want this book, which provides them with the rationale and tools for supporting and promoting pollinators.--Jeanette McVeigh, Univ. of the Sciences, Philadelphia

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2016
Think of this as a short course on why the efforts to garden for butterflies are important as well as their behaviors, life cycles, threats, conservation, family groups, habitats, and the plants to include or avoid in planning a garden for them. Basics for planning landscape layouts for rain, xeriscape, multiuse, meadows, and roadside plantings, urban or rural, are succinctly described. They are followed by photographs and descriptions of 119 recommended flowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees useful to butterflies and attractive in a garden. Information on native ranges, bloom times, color, height, life cycle, soil moisture, nectar value, and larval host properties will be useful to those planning a butterfly garden. After covering picking plants for the garden, there is advice on planting, pesticide-free weed and pest control, and annual clean-up. Lovely and instructive photographs are used throughout to encourage readers to become involved in studying butterflies and supporting conservation efforts as well as planting a garden. This book will help even those without green thumbs support the much-needed effort to assist and protect pollinators.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)