North Meadow Butterfly Gardens

The North Meadow Butterfly Gardens provide habitat for the more than 50 species of butterflies that pass through Central Park.

The four planting beds feature two species of milkweed (essential to caterpillars and butterflies at all stages of life) amid an array of colorful and fragrant plant life that supports moth, insect, and bird populations from spring through first frost.

The Central Park Conservancy and volunteers established the North Meadow Butterfly Gardens in 2000. For home gardeners and horticulturists alike, the garden provides an opportunity to study the flora that attracts these winged beauties. Plants are chosen for their viability as a food source and a host for reproduction. Many are nectar-producing perennials that bloom all season long.

A monarch butterfly in a close-up photograph perched on a bud.

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