An Old Mason Jar Is The Secret To Attracting More Butterflies To Your Garden

They may be relatively small, but butterflies are mighty important. As pollinators, they play an essential role in the food system, helping plants reproduce. Despite their diminutive size, butterflies are voracious eaters who spend about half of their time in search of food. As they float from flower to flower, they soak up sugary nectar using their straw-shaped mouths. Planting a butterfly garden is one way to provide these important pollinators with the energy and nutrients they need. Another option is to create a butterfly feeder using an upcycled Mason jar and everybody's favorite sweet, pure sugar.

To make a butterfly feeder, you'll need a jar with a lid, a piece of natural sponge, a hammer and nail, granulated sugar, string, and something colorful, such as washi tape or artificial flowers. Bright colors, such as red, purple, and pink, will attract the butterflies to the feeder. If you don't have tape or fake flowers, you can try painting the jar instead. The feeder won't be a substitute for planting flowers for your butterfly friends, but a supplement to make your garden even more attractive to them.

To make the butterfly food, heat one cup of water on the stove until it boils. Pour in ¼ cup of sugar and stir. Take the mixture off the heat and let it cool. Stick with regular old sugar for the butterfly food, as sweeteners like honey can crystallize after the butterfly ingests them, which can be fatal. Plus, sugar is nutritionally similar to the nectar flowers produce.

To assemble the butterfly feeder, drill or hammer a hole in the center of the jar's lid. The hole doesn't have to be very big, just large enough that you can push about ½ inch of a sponge or cotton pad through it. Now, the fun part — decorating it. Cut strips of washi tape and smooth them onto the jar, glue a fake flower or two to the sides, or use paint pens to draw designs on the glass. How you decorate is up to you.

Tie string around the jar, so that when you hang it, the lid is on the bottom. Soak a piece of sponge or cotton pad in the sugar solution and push it into the hole in the lid, so that a small piece sticks out. Pour about ½ inch of the sugar mixture into the jar, then put the lid on. Hang the feeder in a sunny spot that's shielded from wind. To make the feeder even more attractive, hang it by a source of water for the butterflies, such as a DIY water fountain.