Tips to Attract More Butterflies to the Landscape

If you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon of planting to attract butterflies – you need to! I love watching butterflies flit around my yard. Not only are they enjoyable to watch, but they also serve as pollinators for some plants. Sure, some butterflies will probably always visit your yard from time to time, but if you want to get serious about attracting more to your landscape, you must provide for their basic needs. This includes food, shelter, liquids, and a sunning location.

If you want butterflies to be more than just visitors looking for a good source of nectar, then you have to create a true butterfly habitat. This will encourage more butterflies to call your garden their home! One way to encourage more butterflies to your landscape is by utilizing plants that serve the needs of all stages of the butterfly. This means planting nectar plants and host plants.

Nectar plants are what the adult butterflies feed on. It is the color and shape of these flowers that will attract the butterflies. Plant nectar plants in masses using three or more plants of one variety. In the nectar plant category, there are many annuals and perennials that can be utilized. Some of the must-have annuals include zinnias, lantana, verbena, and French marigold to name just a few. Perennials utilized as a nectar plant include aster, black-eyed Susan, coneflower, milkweed, catmint and bee balm.

Even some shrubs and herbs are great nectar plants for butterflies. Of course, as the name would imply, butterfly bush is a great addition, along with lilac, mock orange, and spirea. Grow herbs for not only culinary purposes but as a nectar and host source. Plant chives, dill, sage, thyme, and fennel.

Host plants are those plants that butterflies lay their eggs on and that caterpillars feed on. Plant these with the expectation that the will be partially eaten by the developing butterfly. For me, I love walking out and looking at the developing caterpillars and I’m happy to share my plants with them! At the top of this plant list, it is milkweed. Milkweed is the exclusive food source for Monarch caterpillars. There are many different types of milkweed, but the butterfly milkweed is one of the more eye-catching. Other host plants that I like to plant include parsley, dill and fennel. These are great host plants for Black Swallowtails.

Butterflies also need protection from the wind and predators. This can be accomplished by incorporating certain trees and shrub species into the landscape. Butterflies use hackberry, elm, ash, willow and pawpaw trees. Host shrubs include spicebush and prickly ash.

You can make your butterflies feel more at home in the landscape if you will add a few light colored stones. Place these in a location protected from the wind. This will become an area where butterflies can bask in the sun and warm themselves. Incorporate a shallow container filled with sand and keep it moist. Butterflies will gather on the damp sand to take up needed salts and minerals. An occasional treat of rotting or overripe fruit will also keep butterflies happy!

Finally, be mindful of pesticide use. Pesticides not only kill undesirable insect pests, but they also kill butterflies and their caterpillars.

Now is the time to get busy creating a butterfly habitat! I have some wonderful resources available at the Extension office that offers a complete listing of plants. These can be found on the home page of our district website: southwind.ksu.edu or you can pick up a copy at any of our office locations.

Krista Harding is a K-State Research and Extension Agricultural agent assigned to Southwind District. She may be reached at [email protected] or 620-244-3826.

K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Machinery represents an ever-present danger on the farm.

While machines save valuable time and are essential to productivity, use of farm machinery is hazardous, making them the source of most injuries and deaths on American farms and ranches.

While manufacturers design and build safety features into their machines, hazards cannot be completely eliminated without interfering with function. Timely maintenance, responsible use, and comprehensive safety awareness training are ways farmers can protect themselves and others from injury or death when working with and around agricultural machinery.

The primary responsibility for machinery safety rests with the operator. Operators must be aware of potential hazards with the specific piece of machinery they are operating. Safe operators respect machines for the work they perform and the dangers they present. Use these eight simple steps to be a safe machinery operator.

1. Be aware. Recognize where and what the hazards are.
2. Be prepared. Replace worn parts promptly and do daily pre-operational checks. Include preseason checks. Take advantage of the off-season to do additional maintenance work. This gives you time to order any shields and other parts you may need. Anticipate problems.
3. Read the operator’s manual. The simple tips and precautions in this publication are no substitute for the operator’s manual for each piece of machinery. If the manual is missing, contact your dealer or check online to get another one.
4. Shield all moving parts. Make the machine as safe as possible.
5. Respect PTO and hydraulics. Remember that any machine that is powered by a power takeoff driveline (PTO) or has hydraulic systems is inherently dangerous.
6. Shut it off. Before servicing any machine, disengage the PTO, turn off the engine, remove the key, and wait for all parts to stop moving.
7. Watch yourself. Try to avoid particularly hazardous jobs if you’re physically ill or mentally distracted. Fatigue and stress cause many accidents.
8. Use a machine only for its intended purpose.

With more consistently warmer temperatures, farmers will be in the field and on the roads. Pay special attention to slow moving vehicles, as the machinery operator has limited visibility.

To emphasize farm safety, the Southwind District will offer a Tractor Safety training on Tuesday, May 21 in cooperation with Fort Scott Community College for youth ages 14-15. For more information about farm or machinery safety or for details on Tractor Safety Training, please contact the Southwind Extension District at www.southwind.ksu.edu

Carla Nemecek
Southwind Extension District
Director & Agent
[email protected]
620-365-2242
1 North Washington, Iola, KS 66749

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Financial tips to help during a disaster.

Last year about this time a group of colleagues and I were able to tour the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Kansas City, Missouri. FEMA works in partnership with tribal, state and local emergency management officials, as well as non-governmental and private sector partners, to protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards. With the upcoming storm season, I would like to highlight some of the important information we learned while there as it relates to disasters and finances.

When planning for an emergency, it is important to communicate with your insurance agent to know what types of disasters your policy covers. Typical homeowner’s policies offer coverage caused by fires, lightning strikes, wind and hail. Damage caused by earthquakes, floods, mudslides and sinkholes are not typically covered. Know your deductibles and have a plan for covering those as well.

Our group asked the FEMA representatives what would be his number one piece of advice to someone that had just been hit by disaster. His response was to make sure to save receipts. Include receipts of the following:

• Items purchased for home repair
• Contractor invoices
• Hotel room charges if you received housing assistance
• Moving and storage expenses
• Items used for the repair or replacement of personal property

If you would like to help a community after disaster hits, FEMA staff members suggest that sending money rather than supplies is most helpful to communities in an emergency. Not only can the money be used to buy the specific items that are needed, it also helps to stimulate the local economy. Unsolicited donations of material goods create a challenge of storage and sorting when focus is needed on response and recovery. Financial gifts are the most needed and efficient way to help.

In deciding how to donate it was recommended to visit the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster website for a list of major non-profits that are active in disaster work.