Careful planning will ensure steady flow of butterflies to gardens

Q: Some time ago you wrote an article about butterfly gardening. You listed some particular plants that attract butterflies to the garden. Can you list those again? – J.L., Mars Hill

A: Butterflies (and some other beneficial insects, for that matter) are attracted in their adult phase to plants with large, showy clusters of blooms. They also tend to prefer fragrant plants. A butterfly garden often incorporates plants that provide fodder for butterflies in both the adult and caterpillar life cycle stage. It also incorporates a combination of plant material that will provide a continual succession of blooms from early spring through autumn, ensuring a steady flow of lovely butterflies throughout the growing season.

The following list includes annuals, perennials and a few shrubs that supply various butterfly species with nectar during their adult (butterfly) phase and-or leaves to eat in their larval (caterpillar) stage.

Nectar plants include: heliotrope, sunflower, tithonia, nicotiana, zinnia, pincushion flower, cosmos, dill, globe amaranth, marigold, nasturtium, sweet alyssum, verbena, red valerian, Kansas gayfeather, lavender, mint, garden phlox, salvia, aster, coreopsis, Joe Pye weed, purple coneflower, sedum, yarrow, honeysuckle, butterfly bush, cotoneaster and lilac.

Plants that provide nectar and a leaf tissue food source include: aster, sweet fennel, snapdragon, milkweed, red swallowwort, butterfly weed, goldenrod, bee balm and chokecherry.

In addition to these, parsley is an excellent food source for butterflies in their larval phase.

Q: I am raising a few flowers from seed this year. I started them on my windowsills in flats I bought at a yard sale last fall and potting soil I bought at Agway. I placed the seed in long rows down the length of the flat. Some of the seedlings are doing fairly well, but others have come up, and then toppled over and died. I kept them well watered, but not overly soaked.

A: It sounds like you’ve described a common seedling disease called damping-off. Damping-off is caused by a fungal organism that attacks from the soil and kills tender, immature seedlings quickly. Seedlings affected with damping-off typically appear to have been cut down at the soil line.

The most effective way to prevent fungal disease is to abide by strict sanitation practices. If your flats had been used by a previous gardener, they may have been inoculated with the disease. It’s always best to disinfect all your pots and containers by soaking or dipping them in a bleach-water solution. The solution should consist of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water.

Controlling damping-off once signs of the disease have been spotted is exceptionally difficult. The disease can spread through water splashing the organism from plant row to plant row. You may minimize the adverse effects by removing the area of affected soil and plants.

When you transplant the seedlings to larger pots, be certain to use sterilized soil and sanitized pots.

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, RR1, Box 2120, Montville 04941, or e-mail them to dianagc@midcoast.com. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.