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Once the weather is warm enough that you are no longer in danger of frost and the seedlings are at least 2-4" high, you are ready to begin the process of creating your flower bed and transplanting your flowers (checkout the video to see progress on my butterfly garden plan). 

Step 1: Create Flower Bed

Creating the flower bed can be a fair amount of work.  However, with the right tools for the job you should be able to complete this in an afternoon.  Here are the steps I went through to create my flower bed:

• Call your local diggers hotline to ensure you do not dig up any power lines and utilities. Safety first!
• Create outline of flower bed
  • I would suggest laying out a garden hose to get the right shape and mark the line with either flower of marking spray

• Remove sod (I rented a sod cutter from the local hardware store)
  • DIY Network has some good information on Busting Sod

• Improve quality of soil (optional)
  • My soil has a lot of clay in it.  I rented a rototiller and worked Peat Moss and Manure into the soil.

• Install landscape edging (I purchased mine from Home Depot)
  • DIY Network has some good information on Building a Border

• Install weed barrier fabric
  • I used Easy Gardener Commercial Weed Barrier purchased from my local Home Depot for my butterfly garden

• Add 2-3" of mulch
  • I prefer to add the mulch before I plant the flowers.

Step 2: Harden Off Plants

This is a very important consideration when transplanting plants grown indoors from seed.  The seedlings have had a perfect environment to grow - no wind, consistent temperature, and lights not as bright as the sun.  I would suggest that you take 7-10 days to adjust your seedlings to the outside environment before transplanting them in the butterfly garden.

I recommend you follow the steps that I used from a good article in About.com called How to Harden Off Plants.

Step 3: Transplant Flowers

Now for the fun part...transplanting the flowers in the butterfly garden!  Here are my steps:

• Individually place your plants on top of the mulch with proper spacing (be sure to follow recommended spacing for each plant).  Step back and make sure you like the location of the plants.  Make adjustments as necessary.
• Scrape away a 12" diameter circle of mulch where you plan to transplant a flower
• Use a utility knife to cut out a 12" diameter circle of the weed barrier fabric
• (Optional) Remove one shovel of dirt and replace with one shovel of MiracleGro Garden Soil
• Transplant flower (seedling in original peat pellet in my case)
• Add water
• Cover exposed soil (not the flower!) with mulch

What's Next?

Time to keep the rabbits away from my flower bed (I use Liquid Fence) and water as necessary (be careful not to overwater...if the plants start turning yellow, you may be overwatering). 

As the weather starts to warm up, I plan to share pictures and more updates on my blog so stay tuned! 

If you have interesting pictures or experiences to share please post on my website (you will need to register first) or send me an email and I will like a post to your website.

Good luck with your butterfly garden plan!

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