Butterfly Berm

The Butterfly Berm is an easy family project using colorful, nectar-rich natives, such as New Jersey Tea, Prairie Blazing Star and Butterfly Weed. Add a shallow saucer or old birdbath filled with sand, gravel and water for a butterfly "watering hole."

Berms are good design elements for an urban or suburban yard. These independent beds can be created in a day or weekend by adding a low mound of topsoil. This gives you an immediate clean slate, and the slight elevation really sets off plants, especially specimen trees.

Finch's feast plan

Planting Key

1: Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)
2: New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)
3: Rose Verbena (Glandularia canadensis)
4: Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
5: Aromatic Aster (Aster oblongifolius)
6: Prairie Blazing Star (Liatris pycnostachya)
7: Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
8: Lanceleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata)
9: Downy Phlox (Phlox pilosa ssp. Ozarkana)
10: Shining Blue Star (Amsonia illustris)
11: Butterfly watering hole