How to build a butterfly garden

1. How to build a butterfly garden • by Dino, Niccent,Yi Kai, Jorge

2. Things needed 5) Landing platforms for butterflies 1)Butterfly houses 2)Flowers 6) Wooden fences to protect the plants 3)Pond 7) Trees so caterpillars can feed on the leaves 4)Sheltered Stone pathway 8) Mud puddle

3. Flowers that attract butterflies This is a sample butterfly garden 1. Purple coneflower 2. Dill 3. Hollyhock 4. Joe-Pye weed 5. Globe centaurea 6. Peony 7. Turtlehead 8. Swamp milkweed 9. Yarrow 10. Queen Anne’s lace 11.hollyhock 12.snapdragon 13.swamp milkweed 14.common milkweed 15.butterfly milkweed 16.aster 17.heliotrope 18. Tawny daylily 19. ‘Marine’ heliotrope 20. Gayfeather 21. Butterfly weed 22. Petunia 23. Mountain bluet 24. Annual aster 25. ‘Autumn Joy’ sedum 26. Rock cress 27. French marigold 28. ‘Happy Returns’ daylily 30. Blanket flower 31. Nasturtium 32. Goldenrod 33.bleeding heart Source:

4. flowers we choose • purple coneflower and bleeding heart because they can survive Singapore’s hot climate Source:Wikipedia

5. How to take care of the plants and soil used • plants need a certain level of acidity to grow. • the acidity is measured by pH • pH is the measure of soil acidity and alkalinity • the level of pH ranges from 1-14 • the neutral pH is 7 • when the soil is acid the pH would be from 1-6 • the lower the number the more acid it is • when the soil is alkaline the pH is 8-14, the higher the number the more alkaline it is • different plants grow better in different pH

6. How to take care of the plants and soil used • the pH level affects the availability of nutrients in the soil • most plants cannot thrive in too extreme condition eg. soil with pH 1,2 or 3 or soil with pH 12,13 or 14

7. how acidic soil is formed • acidic soil is formed when dead matter decompose, as the matter decompose the soil it is on turns more acidic. • dead matter releases hydrogen that acidifies the soil • so unless there are alkaline objects nearby to neutralize the soil example limestone the soil will turn acidic • most plants cannot survive in extreme acidic conditions

8. how rain affects the plant’s growth • Rainfall actually affects soil pH. • Water passing through the soil leaches basic nutrients such as calcium and magnesium from the soil. • The nutrients are replaced by acidic elements such as aluminium and iron. • so this means that soils formed under high rainfall conditions are more acidic than those formed under drier conditions.

9. The most recommended pH for growing plants • the best pH level for growing most plants is 6.3-6.8 pH • It is not too acidic with makes it very good for growing plants and bacteria that helps the plants to grow and survive better

10. About butterflies • Butterflies are out and about during the daylight hours.They visit flowers that open during the day.Because they like to land on flowers instead of hovering over them,butterflies prefer flowers that offer a landing platform.

11. butterflies need a mud-bath too! • adult male butterflies requires a mud-bath for them to reproduce. they get some sodium from the mud-bath which enables them to survive • so butterflies need mud-baths too

12. Its Q AND A time Special thanks to Ong Xin Kai