There is nothing better on a hot summer day than sitting on your porch, sipping sweet tea, and watching butterflies flutter around in your garden. While I can't promise the nice weather or the tea, I can give you a few tips on how to attract butterflies to your garden and how to keep them coming back year after year.

Feed Them

Butterflies eat nectar from certain flowers and plants. In order to attract them to your garden, you will need to plant a nice variety of their favorites. Butterflies love flowers like daisies that have a central disk. They also love flowers that are tubular in shape. It seems that color is not a major factor, but they tend to like bright colors of reddish-purple and yellow.

To get your garden started, you will need to find a sunny location in your yard that receives at least six to eight hours of sunlight each day. Choose a spot that can be easily viewed from your porch or window because you will want to keep an eye on it later. Your butterfly garden can be as big or as small as you'd like it to be. Of course, the bigger it is, the more butterflies you are likely to attract.

Buddleia

The first plant that you should think of planting in your garden is the buddleia, better known as . . . you guessed it, the butterfly bush. The butterfly bush works like a magnet on the little creatures. They love it. Buddleia is a deciduous shrub, meaning it sheds its leaves annually. They need full sun to flower well and prefer well-drained soil. When planting, make sure they will have plenty of room to spread out as they will grow anywhere from four to six feet tall. In the very early spring, you will need to give them a heavy pruning. Take them down to approximately one or two feet high to promote new growth that will flower profusely. Do not prune them in the fall as that can cause the plant to die over the winter.

Chrysanthemum

The next flower you might think about planting is the chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemums come in a wide variety of colors and types. They include the garden mum, the painted daisy, and the Shasta daisy. Chrysanthemums average one to three feet in height, so again, leave them some space between planting and position them toward the back of the garden. These plants need to be divided every two or three years to prevent overcrowding. Pruning them back twice during the growing season will give you a fuller, more organized plant.

Echinacea

Echinacea, commonly known as coneflower, is not only loved by butterflies but will also attract birds, who enjoy feeding on the seeds. Coneflowers are another big one, growing three to four feet tall. If you want them to re-flower, you will need to deadhead them. Deadheading is done by simply cutting off the spent flowers. Don't do this if you are interested in attracting the birds though, the spent flowers contain the seeds that they love so much. Go easy on the fertilizer. They don't need much.

Coreopsis

The coreopsis has yellow, daisy-like flowers. They are known for their long blooming periods. Coreopsis plants grow up to be approximately two feet tall. These would do well planted in the middle of your butterfly-attracting garden. They are easy to care for. They should be deadheaded after their flowers fade to quicken the renewal of more blooms. But don't worry if you forget, they will re bloom on their own. It just takes longer.

Salvia

There are many different varieties and colors of salvias to choose from. Some salvias are purely ornamental, while others are a part of the herb family, commonly called sage. Salvias will not only attract butterflies but also hummingbirds, if you are lucky enough to have them living in your area. Each variety of salvia has its own growing habits so you will have to check with your local gardening center to find the characteristics of the type you select, but on average they will grow anywhere from one and one half to three feet high. It is important to remember not to cut these back in the fall as that could promote rotting of the crown. Wait until spring after new growth has begun to appear before cutting them back.

Achillea

Achillea, also known as yarrow, has a nice spreading characteristic that looks wonderful in your garden. They commonly grow to about two feet but some varieties get much bigger. They come in shades of red, pink, lilac, yellow and white. These would do nicely toward the front of your garden. These are sometimes used in dried-flower arrangements.

Other Flowers

There are many other flowers that attract butterflies. The ones I've listed are all perennials that will grow back year after year. There are other perennials and some annuals that are also favorites of butterflies, such as zinnia, sedum, lobelia, blanket flower, Joe-pye weed, hollyhock, butterfly weed, day lilies, bee balm, sweet alyssum, heliotrope, nasturtium, sunflower, and pot marigold.

Other than Flowers

Some butterflies don't eat just flower nectar. Some like to eat the nectar of rotting fruit. Just remember, though, that rotting fruit also attracts bees, wasps, and flies. The bees we can live with as they play an important job in the entire pollination process, but be aware of the others that will follow and don't leave this type of butterfly food close to your home.

Some butterflies are also attracted to things like road kill but we won't go into that here.

Give Them a Drink

Butterflies also need water to survive. However, they do not need gallons of it and will stay far away from the sprinkler, which can harm their delicate wings. They prefer a thin layer of moisture or some nice mushy mud. The best way to make sure they have a supply of water on hand is to place a shallow container filled with rocks somewhere in your butterfly-attracting garden that is out of direct sunlight. Make sure that some of the rocks stick above the top of the container so they will have a place to land. When you water your garden, remember to refill the container.

Encourage Them to Stay

To keep the butterflies coming back year after year you will need a few host plants in your garden where they can lay their eggs. The host plants will provide food for the baby caterpillars after they've hatched. There are many lovely host plants to choose from, and they vary from area to area. Some common host plants are hollyhocks, Anne's lace, milkweed, aster, rue, dill and parsley

What Are You Waiting For

Now that you've learned some of the basics of attracting butterflies to your garden, why are you still sitting there? There are thousands of homeless butterflies out there depending on you to furnish them with a home. Get going!