KAREN WIGHT -- No place like home

As much as I detest the caterpillars that nibble on my garden leaves,

I am enthralled by the butterflies that emerge and decorate my garden

like flying flowers.

I purposefully attract these creatures into my garden. I bribe them

with sweet nectars from the flowers they love. Their presence is magical

and encourages a sweet kind of daydreaming, a time of simple reflection

and an appreciation of the beauty that surrounds us.

Luring butterflies into your garden is amazingly simple. There are

certain types of plants that butterflies consider gourmet fare. If you

provide them their nectar, they reward you with their staccato dance amid

your flora.

Flowering trees and shrubs are a must and the buddleia, or butterfly

bush, is the perfect plant with which to bait them.

There are more than 100 species of buddleia. Their rangy habit is a

charming backdrop for an informal cottage garden or natural landscape.

The arching branches provide dozens of flower spikes (called panicles),

which attract winged visitors like magnets.

I love the gray-green foliage that is standard with most buddleia.

Even when the bush is not in bloom, the leaves are reason enough to

include a few in your garden. The nivea variety has white, felted leaves

and stems, easily grows to 7 feet in height, and is a garden standout.

Other buddleia have long, dark green leaves that provide year-round

texture to your landscape.

The variety of available buddleia is overwhelming. The color choices

are plentiful: creamy yellow suffused with lilac pink; deep, vivid purple

that looks like a spire of dark velvet; pale lavender; pure white; and

golden orange.

In addition to the buddleia, there are other floral choices for your

garden that will encourage butterflies to visit. Perennials that have the

“right stuff” include lantana, coreopsis, coneflowers and larkspur.

Wisteria vines are also a spectacular choice for butterflies.

Our garden has several butterfly-friendly bushes. This was never a

problem until I had children old enough to experience the infamous high

school bug collection. For a few weeks last October, our garden had not

only butterflies but also teenagers flitting about with their

school-issue nets and their “jars of death.” I had a nightmare about

those jars, but that’s another story.

At the apex of our collecting hysteria, and I do mean that literally,

we made quite a spectacle of ourselves over an al fresco brunch at the

Mission Inn. An enormous yellow swallowtail was hovering over our table.

Annie leaped from the table, napkin in hand, to capture the prize. She

was successful, it was the largest yellowtail specimen I’ve ever seen,

but we had quite an audience. One older woman made a point of publicly

reprimanding us. I think she used words like “selfish” and “shameful.”

Annie didn’t seem to care. Of course, we had the death jar in the car

(I’m not kidding, as many of you who have experienced the bug collection

can relate) and we called the day a bittersweet success.

On a more joyful note, experience butterflies up close, personal, and

alive, at the Butterfly Garden at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. They

have an enclosure dedicated exclusively to exotic butterflies that hover

about you as you walk through.

The youngest daughter, Mary Rose, loves this place. I think it’s a

personal pilgrimage for her. It is amazing how many butterflies land on

her outstretched arms as she radiates delight.

Which brings me back to my original thought. Butterflies remind me of

childhood stages. The younger ones can be a little annoying, like the

creeping caterpillar, occasionally gnawing away at my sanity. But

watching their metamorphosis as they turn into beautiful creatures that

enhance the quality of my life and the lives around them as they flutter

in my garden and beyond, is a mystical experience.

* KAREN WIGHT is a Newport Beach resident. Her column runs Saturdays.