Just for the Birds Offers Tips for Bringing Butterflies into the Garden

“To enjoy butterflies in your garden or yard, you just have to put in the right plants,” Kathy Coward of Just for the Birds said. “You need plants for the caterpillars and the butterflies.”

Female butterflies lay their eggs on plants that the caterpillars–once they come out–can use for food. These host plants provide the sustenance for the caterpillars and should be placed somewhere in the garden that the homeowner does not mind seeing plants without leaves, as the caterpillars eat the leaves and strip the plants bare.

“Nectar plants should be planted close by so that you can see the adult butterflies sipping the nectar,” Coward said. “Butterflies like sunny locations where there is little wind. They also like to sunbathe, so having a bowl of moist sand with rocks around it will help them out and give you a good view.”

To add to knowledge to butterfly watching, Just for the Birds offers a great selection of books that identify the different species of butterflies that thrive in the Houston area and in the rest of the country. The store also has reference guides that show host plants and the caterpillars that feed on them. Moreover, butterfly houses, feeders and gift items with butterfly motifs are available at the shop.

“Enjoy the warm days by appreciating one of nature’s great gifts: the butterfly,” Coward said.

For more information, contact Just For The Birds at 281-288-9019, visit 209 Main St. in Old Town Spring or view the shop on the Web at http://www.justforthebirds.com.

About Just For The Birds

Just For The Birds is a small, independently owned shop located in the restored, turn-of-the-19th-century railroad town of Old Town Spring. Kathy Coward is the owner. She began the business in 1994 out of a “labor of love.” She is very knowledgeable with birds and birding and was the president of the oldest and most respected Piney Woods Wildlife Society from 2001 to 2005. Just For The Birds offers a collection of gifts for bird lovers of all ages, along with products for wild birds, squirrels, butterflies and bats.