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Showing posts from June, 2018

Natural Notes: Urban Butterflies of Taylor Street Farms

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The next time you are digging in your garden plot on a hot summer day, be on the lookout for our colorful and winged insect friends, the butterflies.  While the idea of bugs in the garden might detract the squeamish, butterflies are more often than not a welcome visitor in urban gardens - and in fact many gardeners will try to attract plants they find at home and garden centers that claim to be a "magnet" for butterflies.  Indeed, common nursery stock plants like Butterfly Bush ( Buddleia davidii ) do attract many species of butterflies, giving the false impression that planting ornamental garden flowers will increase the amount of butterflies.  It's deceiving because there is a difference between attracting butterflies and supporting the life stages of butterflies.  Most garden plants that people plant provide a source of nectar for them to feed on, but that's it.  They do not provide the necessary elements to support their growth and development, which for butterfl