Gardening 101: Starting Up A Butterfly Garden

(CBSDFW.COM) - This week's Gardening 101 is about how easy it can be to get a butterfly garden going in your yard. That is because the people at Texas A&M AgriLife have done all the work. They have designed and grown all you need to make that garden happen.

Here is the website to check out their pollinator garden-in-a-box.

You have to pay in advance and then drive down to south Fort Worth to pick it up. The selection of plants are local or adapted, drought resistant and easy to maintain. Not all of them will work where ever you plant them but the selection is broad enough to make up any space lost to any particular plant failing to take hold.

The price works to about $3 a plant -- a deal when you consider that many of these plants are hard to find.

The kit includes planting instructions and offers a variety of layouts to fit where ever you envision your garden to grow. I bought this kit last fall and found it very easy to understand to planting guide.

You'll need a spot of around 125 square feet; it can be in long row, a circle or corner triangle. I picked a spot right outside my kitchen window so I could enjoy the color and pollinators when cooking or sitting at the dinner table.

On Tuesday, I was visited, again, by a few hummingbirds but there are always bees, bumblebees and butterflies flying around the collection.

My personal experience with this is overwhelmingly positive and would recommend it. Keep in mind that ANYTHING you grow will require some care; I have had to prune back some plants after they bloom and, of course, keep everything watered during drought.

All of it worth the effort in my book.