Wildman should know, for she has been planting an abundance of flowers in her 1-acre native-plant nursery established in the early 1980s, and her flowers have been attracting an equally abundant number of butterflies.

"Imagine a garden where the colors not only wave in the breeze but lift up into the air and float off with the wind," says Wildman, owner of the Hearts and Flowers Butterfly Farm. This is the effect you can get when you plant a butterfly garden.

To start your own butterfly garden, Wildman suggests you find out which butterflies are likely to come to your area, then obtain native flowering plants that will attract those visitors.

"It's important that you plant a mass of color rather than just a dot of color here and there," she says. "This will reinforce the color and help to attract butterflies."

Adult butterflies seek the flowers as a source of nectar, and they brovide an important pollination service. But for even greater success in attracting butterflies, Wildman stresses the importance of also providing food for the caterpillars -- the larvae that will later transform into butterflies.

Wildman recommends that you plant fragrant and colorful flowers that have short tubes and a surface for the butterflies to land on, such as a daisy or buddleia (butterfly bush). As an added attraction for butterflies, provide a shallow water source or mud puddle because butterflies (especially the males) often congregate at puddle-side "drinking clubs."

Butterfly houses are sold commercially as a site for overwintering. But according to Wildman, these houses are often promoted with little knowledge about butterfly biology.

She says that when butterflies overwinter they look for protected crevices, often against a building or at the edge of a woodlot. However, people make the common mistake of placing their butterfly home in the open sun -- usually on a post in the middle of the flower garden.

In the Midwest, the houses have limited use because few butterflies overwinter as adults in the region; most migrate from the south in the spring. For butterflies that do overwinter in the Midwest, an equally effective overwinter site is a brush or log pile.

How successful you are in attracting butterflies depends on your location. If you live in an industrial zone, it may take longer for butterflies to find you. But if you live in an area where the neighbors also plant flowers, Wildman says, you may see a healthy population of butterflies.

How long the butterflies stay in your yard depends on the species. It also depends on whether you supply them with more than just nectar-producing flowers. These delicate creatures have other needs as well -- food for the larval stage and shelter for all stages of their life. Because insecticides can kill butterflies, Wildman recommends that you use them only as a last resort.

A healthy backyard habitat will also attract spiders, birds, and beneficial insects, which will help keep pests under control, she adds. What's more, by learning to appreciate one of the most popular and attractive of insects -- the butterfly -- Wildman says you may learn to value all insects.