![]() Full shade – Plants require less than 3 hours of direct sun per day.Part shade – Plants require between 3 and 6 hours of sun per day, but need protection from intense mid-day sun.Part sun – Plants thrive with between 3 and 6 hours of direct sun per day.Full sun – Plants need at least 6 hours of direct sun daily.Knowing how much light you have within your landscape is an important piece to a sound design. By simply watching sun patterns throughout the year, you will be able to determine how much sunlight your garden receives. Industry standards and labeling can then be used to assist in selecting the right plants for your landscape conditions. Here are some terms worth knowing since all plants require sunlight to grow, but differ in the amount and intensity of light needed to prosper. Pollinators of Native Plants: Attract, Observe, and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants. Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly on Pawpaw tree at the Arboretum, photo by Janelle Flory Schrock Prairie Violet – Fritillary Butterflies. ![]() Smooth Blue Aster – Crescent Butterflies.New Jersey Tea – Spring Azure butterfly.Golden alexander – Black Swallowtail butterfly.Here are a few host plants and the pollinator they attract: Ultimately, the goal of any habitat garden is to provide everything those butterfly species need to complete their life cycle. Food for all stages of their life cycle, protection, and water are needed at different times throughout the year. The tiny larvae (caterpillars) will emerge and begin eating on the host plant. As they eat, they grow until they leave the plant and form a chrysalis. It is a fascinating process that you can watch unfold in your own garden. Newly hatched monarch caterpillar on common milkweed (Photo by Brad Guhr) If you have a variety of host plants, you will attract a variety of butterflies. Think of host plants as the baby nurseries of the garden. Female butterflies will flit and flutter through your garden looking for the right plant to lay their eggs. Some will lay their eggs on stems, or on the underside of leaves, hidden from predators. It’s important to plan for the entire life cycle of a pollinator. Butterflies need places to lay their eggs. Beautiful gardens in full bloom are what we see in catalogs, magazine and books. It is natural to gravitate toward these flourishing gardens that nectar-seeking butterflies need to sustain themselves. However, host plants (food for butterfly caterpillars) will keep them coming back to your landscape for years to come. Often, the focus for our gardens is on blooms and succession of blooms, more so than host plants. If you’re dreaming of a flourishing prairie pollinator garden, let me unpack the why behind the what of a few more horticultural terms for you. We encounter many enthusiastic new gardeners at FloraKansas who have heard about the importance of planting native plants, but don’t yet have the knowledge base needed to establish a successful planting.
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