Butterfly Garden in Winter

The Butterfly Garden in Winter

It’s January and you are inside, dressed in warm fleece and sipping hot tea. Meanwhile, what’s happening outdoors in your frozen gardens? Fortunately, in our temperate zone (the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines us as “zone 6a”), plants and animals have evolved winter strategies to survive the four months of snow and rollercoaster temperatures.

Host and Nectar Plants

Your perennial plants are dormant to avoid dealing with the cold. By definition, perennials survive at least two winters’ freezing temperatures, especially if you or Mother Nature has tenderly mulched them. Mother Nature uses fallen leaves and decaying plant debris to protect the plant’s crown from our midwestern temperature roller coaster.

All the annuals are dead, not from the cold, but from their DNA. Annuals are genetically programed for a life cycle of: germination, foliage, flowers, then seeds, and ultimately death. Think Zinnias or Cosmos or Cleome. You can prolong their lives by deadheading but they will not survive past their allotted annual timespan. However, the seeds of many species (but not necessarily their hybrids) live on in the soil to germinate the next spring if left undisturbed. Plants from zone 7 or higher perish in our zone 6a cold temperatures, even if they are perennials in their native growing zone. You may call these tropical plants “annuals”; however, they are true perennials and unlike the true annuals, they will survive through the winter if you bring them indoors to heat and light. I grow Lantana, Coleus and tropical Pipevines in pots and easily relocate them to my greenhouse for the winter. “Cleaning” your garden puts the plants at risk by removing the protective leaf blanket and removes the seeds, which could be next year’s flowers. Why would you do that? Butterflies

The Monarch butterfly, and also Red Admirals, Cloudless Sulphurs and Painted Ladies, migrate to spend the winter in tropical locations despite the difficult journey back and forth. However, migrating is the exception. Most butterflies spend the winter in your garden, hidden in the debris as a chrysalid, adult, caterpillar or egg while they await the return of spring temperatures. If you clean your garden in fall, i.e., remove the plant debris, you are also removing many butterflies that are in diapause (insect hibernation). They are attached to dead leaves and stems, usually as a chrysalis, and some caterpillars get through winter in a rolled leaf sleeping bag.

Other Insects

Like butterflies, other insects and invertebrates snooze through winter (the diapause) in your yard. Hiding places include: attached to plant debris, inside hollow stems, underground, under mulch, and in the leaf litter. If you disturb them with a fall or early spring clean-up, you unintentionally kill them. This slaughter includes butterflies, bees and fireflies. Remember, 97% of insects are desirable as either benign or as highly beneficial members of your ornamental garden’s diverse community of plants and insects. “Cleaning” your garden destroys this ecosystem. In contrast, vegetable gardeners should thoroughly clean up their gardens in the fall and dispose of all debris because these monoculture plantings have attracted insect pests and many are specific to your particular crop. You don’t want them to survive the winter in the garden’s debris or mulch!

Summary: Winter Butterfly Garden Strategies

The message is clear: continue cleaning up your vegetable garden. Mow or bag/compost leaves on the lawn. In your ornamental garden, Mother Nature’s mulch should be left in place. By early March, the remaining refuse has started to decompose and is ready to be gently crumbled to continue as the mulch that will protect your plants and butterflies. This natural FREE mulch will conserve water, block weed growth and decay into the compost that feeds your plants. And both your plants and butterflies will thank you.

Photos by Lenora Larson.

The Praying Mantis spends the winter in an egg case that resembles a burned marshmallow. Argiope, that huge yellow and black garden spider, survives as an egg in this spherical case of the despicable Tobacco Budworm, which devours your Petunia buds.

The Black Swallowtail chrysalis looks like part of the twig.

LENORA LARSON Butterfly Maven

A Marais des Cygnes Master Gardener, Lenora is a member of the Idalia Butterfly Society and Kansas Native Plant Society. She gardens in the clay soil and cruel winds of Paola, KS. She may be contacted at lenora.longlips@gmail.com.