Butterfly Garden for Kids
Free Landscape Design Plan
Bring Butterflies, Blooms, and Big Smiles to Your Backyard with This Free Kids' Butterfly Garden Design!
Image credit @jcotton via Unsplash
Imagine a summer where your kids trade screen time for sunshine, curiosity, and the joy of spotting butterflies in your own backyard. Sounds perfect, right? Now you can make it happen with this FREE digital download of a stunning, kid-friendly butterfly garden design!
This isn’t just a garden plan—it’s your blueprint for creating a vibrant, buzzing kids’ butterfly garden border that will provide a much-needed home for butterflies and caterpillars.
Designed for a full-sun garden bed measuring 28 feet by 4 feet, this plan is simple to follow and tailored to gardening zones 4-8.
Best of all, this garden bursts into colorful, butterfly-filled life during the summer months—right when kids are out of school and eager for adventure.
Whether you’re a gardening pro or just getting started, this free landscape design makes it easy to transform your outdoor space into a magical world of blooms and butterflies. Are you looking for kids’ butterfly garden ideas to spark a love of nature? Keep reading to get your free landscape design download and plant list!
Kids’ Butterfly Garden Design Details
Nectar plants to attract and feed butterflies, bees and other pollinating insects
Butterfly host plants to support the lifecycle of butterflies and their caterpillars
A mass of vibrant colors to gain the attention of butterflies and encourage them to visit your yard
A peak flowering time designed to coincide with the summer break from school
A dedicated area for planting annual zinnia seeds, a fun and engaging yearly activity to enjoy with children
Choosing the Ideal Spot
Pick a spot for this kids’ butterfly garden where you have:
Full sun (6+ hours of direct sunlight per day). Read “Full Sun Definition” to find out how to measure the amount of sunlight in your landscape.
Space for a 28 foot long by 4 foot wide garden border.
Room for one of the plants to grow up to 8 feet tall.
Well-draining, loamy soil.
The ideal location for this butterfly garden layout is a sunny backyard or side yard, where you have space to create a long border garden in front of a fence or along an empty exterior wall.
This is a wild, natural looking garden and is not the best choice for a foundation planting or for the front of the house. It shouldn’t be too out of the way though, because you want to be able to see the butterflies and caterpillars in action!
If you don’t have full sun or a suitable location for this garden, skip it! This free landscape design is not a good choice for you. Don’t waste your time and money - find a different type of gardening project to involve your kids in.
Image credit: @ judy_beth_morris_idaho via Unsplash
Is This Kids’ Butterfly Garden A Good Fit For Me?
Yes, this free kids’ butterfly garden landscape design is a good fit for you if:
You are planting in zones 4-8. If you don’t know what your gardening zone is, check out the USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map here.
You have a spot in full sun where you can create a long garden border.
You think bugs, bees, and caterpillars are cool and don’t mind having them living in your yard.
You want an outdoor project to do with your kids, grandkids, school or youth group.
You want to create a situation where butterflies, caterpillars, bees and bugs can be viewed up close.
You want to support pollinators in the landscape.
You don’t mind having a naturalistic looking garden bed.
You don’t use pesticides in your yard, or you plan to stop using them once this garden is planted.
You don’t mind a few holes in the leaves of your plants.
You're willing to postpone your fall and spring cleanups, giving caterpillars nestled in the leaf litter and decaying plants the chance to wake up.
No, this free kids’ butterfly garden landscape design is not a good fit for you if:
Bugs and caterpillars gross you out.
You don’t like holes in the leaves of your plants.
You like a tidy, neat garden with lots of visible mulch and shapely, manicured plants.
You have heavy clay soil.
The area where you want to plant has poor drainage or standing water.
You want evergreens or plants with a long season of bloom from spring through fall.
You don’t hesitate to use pesticides and chemicals in your garden and landscape.
You only have part shade or full shade.
You don’t have space to create a long border garden.
You spend a large chunk of your summer traveling or away from home, and you won’t be able to enjoy the blooms and butterfly action.
Someone who frequents the yard has a bee sting allergy (bees also love the flowers in this kids’ butterfly garden).
Image credit: @lens_poet_photography via Unsplash
Additional factors to keep in mind:
Gardens need to be watered, especially during the establishment phase and also during times of drought. Is the planting area easily accessible for watering? Will you have time to water this garden? Would a soaker hose or drip irrigation line hooked up to a timer make things easier for you? Are your kids old enough to water, unsupervised?
Are you going on a summer vacation? Who will water the garden for you when you are away?
Every plant chosen for this free landscape design is deer resistant. However, no plant is 100% deer-proof! If you garden in an area with heavy deer pressure, are you comfortable with the possibility of deer nibbling on your plants, especially during years when their natural food sources are scarce?
What is your budget? Don’t forget to include the cost of mulch, and if you are new to gardening you may also need to purchase a shovel and some watering equipment. Container-grown plants bloom and fill out quickly - do you find this worth the investment compared to starting with divisions or seeds? Read on for some money-saving tips included in the plant list below.
Kids’ Butterfly Garden Plants
The following is a list of the plants used in this free kids’ butterfly garden landscape design. To make life easy, the free digital download includes a handy shopping list with photos. Plant availability can be unpredictable, and it's not unusual for certain plants to be out of stock. To assist with this, a list of suitable replacements for each type of plant is provided. Bookmarking this page is recommended!
Image credit @DSchaub-nature photography via Canva.com
Common name: Purple Dome New England Aster
Botanical/Latin name: Symphotrichum novae-angliae 'Purple Dome'
Type: Perennial (returns every year)
Quantitity needed: 2
Mature size: 1-2 feet high and 2-3 feet wide
Bloom time: Summer through early fall
Watering needs: Moderate once established
Reason chosen: Both a host plant and nectar plant for over 100 types of butterflies and moths; also a pollinator favorite.
Money-saving tips: Asters are easy to propagate from division. If you know someone who is growing this plant, ask if you can take a piece. They are also fairly easy to grow from seed - make sure to carefully follow the directions listed on the seed packet.
Alternates, if not available: Symphotrichum novae-angliae (straight species); Aster ‘Wood’s Purple’; Aster ‘Wood’s Pink’; Aster ‘Wood’s Blue’
Image credit @monica-photo via Canva.com
Common name: Autumn Joy Stonecrop
Botanical/Latin name: Sedum ‘Herbstfreude’ or Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’; Sedum is synonymous with Hylotelephium
Type: Perennial (returns every year)
Quantitity needed: 2
Mature size: 18-24 inches high and wide
Bloom time: Summer through fall
Watering needs: Low once established
Reason chosen: Nectar plant and pollinator favorite. It’s easy for kids to observe butterflies feeding and perching on the stout, flat-topped flower heads.
Money-saving tips: Sedums are extremely easy to propagate by division. If you know someone who is growing this plant, ask if you can take a piece. Growing sedums from seed will require 1+ years until you have a flowering plant - it’s better to buy a plant or take a piece from a friend or neighbor.
Alternates, if not available: Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’, Sedum spectabile ‘Neon’, Sedum ‘Purple Emporer’, Sedum ‘Matrona’
Image credit @McKinneMike via Canva.com
Common name: Butterfly weed
Botanical/Latin name: Asclepias tuberosa
Type: Perennial (returns every year)
Quantitity needed: 6
Mature size: 2-3 feet high and 12-18 inches wide
Bloom time: Summer
Watering needs: Low once established
Reason chosen: Host plant for the monarch butterfly and a butterfly nectar plant. Also a pollinator favorite - this plant attracts tons of insects for kids to observe.
Money-saving tips: Milkweed do not like to be moved and are difficult to propagate by division or cuttings. It is possible to grow them from seed, but it’s not a beginner project - seeds need cold stratification, so follow the directions on the seed packet carefully.
Alternates, if not available: Asclepias tuberosa ‘Hello Yellow’, Asclepias tuberosa ‘Gay Butterflies’
Image credit @aimintang via Canva.com
Common name: Zinnia
Botanical/Latin name: Zinnia elegans
Type: Annual. Zinnias last for a single gardening season and need to be replanted yearly.
Quantity needed: 1 packet of seeds. Choose a variety mix with single flowers and bright yellow centers. Butterflies find single-flowering varieties the easiest to feed from, and they favor blooms with yellow centers.
Mature size: 1-4 feet tall, depending on the type chosen.
Bloom time: Late spring until frost
Watering needs: Moderate, with seedlings requiring consistent moisture
Reason chosen: Zinnias are a butterfly favorite and extremely easy to grow from seed - a fun and educational activity to do with children each year. Zinnia seeds can be sown directly into the ground - follow the instructions on the seed packet.
Money-saving tips: A packet of zinnia seeds is inexpensive and widely available starting in wintertime at nurseries, hardware stores, big box centers, and even grocery stores. You can also try to harvest and save the seeds to use again next year.
Alternates, if not available: Cosmos, marigolds, Verbena bonariensis
Image credit @marinowifi via Canva.com
Common name: Autumn Sun Coneflower
Botanical/Latin name: Rudbeckia nitida ‘Herbstsonne’ or Redubeckia nitida ‘Autumn Sun’
Type: Perennial (returns every year)
Quantitity needed: 1
Mature size: 6-8 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide
Bloom time: Mid-summer through fall
Watering needs: Low once established
Reason chosen: Both a host plant and nectar plant. A favorite plant of the skipper butterfly, whose lively darting movements are fun for kids to watch.
Money-saving tips: Easy to propagate by division. If you know someone who is growing this plant, ask if you can take a piece. It’s possible to grow Autumn Sun coneflower from seed, but the seeds are not widely available for purchase.
Alternates, if not available: Rudbeckia laciniata, Rudbeckia maxima, Eutrochium maculatum ‘Gateway’
Kids’ Butterfly Garden Free Landscape Design Download
A free landscape design and plant shopping list to help you create a magical butterfly haven.
Page 1: A beautifully crafted, to-scale landscape design tailored for a 28-foot by 4-foot garden bed.
Page 2: A complete plant shopping list featuring vibrant, butterfly-attracting blooms and plants that support the life cycle of butterflies.
This article contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. These commissions help me to continue bringing you free, high-quality design articles—thank you for your support!
Shop Must-Have Books for Kids:
Kids’ Butterfly Garden Maintenance Calendar
Bookmark this page for future reference!
Year-round Tasks
Do not use pesticides in your garden. Most pesticides are “broad spectrum”, meaning they kill broadly. That includes butterflies, caterpillars, bees, milkweed bugs, and all the interesting insects you are trying to attract to your garden, as well as harming creatures further up the food chain that eat them. Learn more about pesticides and their risks from the Xerces Society.
This garden has low to moderate watering needs. Some plants are drought-tolerant, but they still require monitoring and occasional watering to thrive and maintain their health - “low-water” does not mean no water! All newly planted garden plants will require regular watering to establish strong root systems and adapt to their new environment. Read “How to Water Your Plants” to gain a better understanding of the watering needs of your garden.
Spring
Delay spring cleanup to protect overwintering caterpillars and insects. Get tips from the Xerces society about when to clean up your garden here.
Be patient with growth, as this summer-flowering garden is slow to leaf out and get started. Especially the butterfly weed!
Sow zinnia seeds directly into the ground, once the danger of frost has passed. If you are unsure about frost dates in your area, visit NOAA’s interactive map.
Water as needed to maintain plant health.
Pull weeds. If you're unsure what is a weed or a plant, wait until growth begins and you can identify the plants more clearly.
Year 3 maintenance: Divide the asters, stonecrop, and coneflower plants, and share divisions with neighbors or plant elsewhere in your landscape. If you are unsure how to divide plants, watch Mississippi State University’s video about how to divide perennials. Butterfly weed has a long taproot and does not respond well to division, so do not disturb!
Summer
Enjoy the garden: Observe caterpillars, butterflies, and other bugs as the garden comes into full bloom.
Get kids involved:
Assign watering and weeding tasks
Develop a routine to check on plants and search for butterflies and caterpillars together
Search for chrysalises
Create a butterfly watering station. Learn how with this tip sheet from the National Wildlife Federation.
Water as needed, and arrange for vacation watering if you'll be away
Weed regularly to keep the garden tidy.
Stake flowers, as needed: The flowering stems of Autumn Sun coneflower are strong and typically don’t require staking. If the plant is grown in overly fertile or very moist soil, the stems will flop over and need staking.
Put out a puddling dish for butterflies. It’s easy to create - visit PennState’s Extension for more info about how to create a puddling station for pollinators.
Bring some flowers indoors: Autumn Sun coneflower flowers heavily and makes a great cut flower.
Magnifying glasses, butterfly identification guides and books about common garden insects can make the experience more engaging for kids.
Fall
Leave the garden as is: Allow flowering to finish naturally and let the plants go dormant.
Water as needed until plants go fully dormant after the first frost.
Let flower heads dry on the plants to provide winter food for birds.
Avoid cleaning up:
Protect overwintering caterpillars and insects by leaving plant materials and leaf litter around the garden bed undisturbed.
Some insects nest inside the dead plant stems, so avoid cutting them down until springtime.
Winter
Leave the garden undisturbed to protect overwintering insects.
Watch for birds eating flower seeds and foraging for insects in the leaf litter.
Plan for next season:
Shop for zinnia seeds.
If starting zinnia seeds indoors, plan to sow seeds in late winter.
Do you need to invest in any watering equipment or tools to make your maintenance tasks easier next summer?
Build on your kids’ experience:
Continue reading about butterflies and caterpillars.
Many kids enjoy paging through visual butterfly and insect ID guides, even if they can’t understand the text.
If you are lucky enough to live near an indoor butterfly house, conservatory, or lepidopterarium, see if you can pay a visit, you may even pick up some new kids’ butterfly garden ideas!
Butterfly Gardening Resources
Identify all the insects visiting milkweed with the University of Wisconsin’s Common Milkweed Insects guide.
If native plants are important to you and you would like to go a step further in sourcing milkweed, use the Xerces Society’s Milkweed Finder to search for local plants.
Get help identifying butterflies and caterpillars with apps like iNaturalist, Leps by Fieldguide, Picture Insect: Bug Identifier, and Google Lens. These apps are neither sponsored links nor endorsements, and their results can vary significantly. This technology is rapidly evolving, with new and improved options continually emerging!
If you are new to gardening and don’t understand how to start from scratch, get tips from Iowa State University about creating a new garden bed.
For information about growing zinnias, read the University of Minnesota’s guide to starting seeds indoors and growing tips.
Brush up on your watering skills with these articles:
“How to Water Your Plants: The Ultimate Guide to Watering Your Garden”
“Soaker Hose vs. Drip Irrigation - Choosing the Right Watering Method For Your Garden”
Keep an eye on rainfall amounts in your area, and check the U.S. Drought Monitor here.
A Deer Resistant Shrub With Pink Flowers