Florida gardeners are lucky because our state hosts nearly 200 species of butterflies. But with each butterfly requiring different host plants it can be tough to decide what to plant in your yard. Butterfly gardening is an amazing way for adults and children to enjoy the outdoors together. So I am sure your little scientist will enjoy learning how to attract a wider variety of butterflies to the yard.
If you live in South Florida you hit the butterfly jackpot. Did you know that by planting just THREE plants species in your yard you can attract up to SIX different types of butterflies? Whenever I help someone start a butterfly garden I always recommend these three plants. Each of these plants is hardy and adapts to versatile soil and light conditions. They will give you the most butterfly for your buck.
Plant 1: Passionvines
Passionvines alone attract three different species of butterflies. The Julia, Gulf Fritillary and Zebra Longwings all use it as their host plant. You can buy many species of passionvine at your local garden center, however I personally I have only had luck with the corkystem passionvine species in my yard.
The corkystem passionvine (Passiflora suberosa) is a native Florida plant so no wonder I have such great lucky with it. It tolerates shade and full sun and I highly recommend planting it in both locations. While it is host plant to three butterflies how does the plant manage to survive being utilized by so many species.
The plant’s versatility in the yard is how it can host three species. Make sure to plant your passionvines in the shade for the zebra longwings and in the sun for the Gulf Fritillaries.
I rarely find all three species on one plant specimen. If the plant gets very large you many find multiple species on one plant. However, since this plant is utilized by so many hungry caterpillars that us not often the case.
Zebra longwings are one on my favorite butterflies. They tend to stay in your yard throughout the day and have a slow and lazy flight pattern. This makes them easy to observe and they make frequent and long visits to the garden.
Another unique trait is these butterflies live longer than most with a life span of several months. They are also social and when night falls they roost together overnight.
I have seen this happen at two of my gardens and both time they were roosting either in large firebush (Hamelia patens) or golden dewdrop (Duranta erecta). The clusters typically contained 15-20 butterflies all clinging to each other. It is quite the sight if you are lucky enough to see this.
Where to Buy Corkystems
While more and more plant nurseries are starting to carry native plants it may still be hard to find Corkystem passionvines. When I first ordered mine back in 2004 natives plants were still scarce in the nursery setting so I had them shipped via mail order.
Nowadays eBay, local plants sales, or native plant nurseries will be your best bet. I would not recommend trying to start them from seed. While seedlings do pop up around your existing plants I have heard they can be difficult to grow from seed.
I would have small plants shipped to you. They usually come bareroot and need to be planted right away, but they tolerate shipping well. Most small plant cost around $5-10 while larger plants in a 3 gallon pot are typically priced around $20.
Plant 2: Fennel
Swallowtails are the largest types of butterfly species you’ll see in your yard. They have a swift flight pattern and typically make quick stop overs in a garden. Their host plants include fennel, dill, carrots, parsley, rue and Queen Anne’s lace. My favorite to grow is fennel. In South Florida fennel grows all year and tolerates full sun and poor soil conditions.
My first home was a new construction house and the yard was standard construction fill with minimal drainage and barely any topsoil. Even under these conditions the fennel looked great all year. I always had tons of caterpillars on it and butterflies always stopping by the yard. Fennel also has very beautiful delicate clusters of yellow flowers that attracts bees and other beneficial insects like ladybugs.
Where to Buy Fennel
Fennel can easily be grown from seed. Seed packets cost between $1-4. However, garden centers often stop selling seeds in the fall. This can be very frustrating for Florida gardeners since this is our prime growing season. Be prepared to buy seeds online if your local garden center has packed up all the seeds during peak growing season in favor of making space for Halloween or Christmas decorations. Hopefully one day stores will cater more towards the needs of southeastern gardeners and realize each store locations has unique needs, but back to fennel. I have also run into issues where stores are not stocking fennel seeds but if this is the case it is also readily available online. During spring and summer most garden centers that sells herbs will likely have fennel plants in 4 inch pots for around $5.
Plant 3: Milkweeds
Milkweed is host plant to the beloved monarch butterfly. You might be surprised to learn that monarchs can be found throughout the continental US and parts of Mexico and Canada.
This makes milkweed one of the best plants to attract butterflies regardless of which state you live in. There are many native varieties of milkweeds so even if you live outside of Florida there are native milkweeds for your yard too.
In South Florida the best milkweed for your yard is Asclepias tuberosa that goes by the common name butterflyweed. This variety has rich yellow to orange flowers and does well in sun and partial shade and varying soil conditions.
Mexican milkweed also called tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is also frequently available. It has bi-colored flowers that are red and yellow in color. However, this variety of milkweed has come under recent scrutiny.
Since the plant blooms all year in South Florida it can promote a butterfly disease called Ophryocystis elektroscirrha commonly called OE. As OE builds up on this variety of plant it infects the feeding caterpillars and can cause them to not develop past the chrysalis phase.
This is also true for the non-native hairy balls milkweed (Gomphocarpus physocarpus, formerly Asclepias physocarpa). This can be avoided by sticking to the native milkweeds for your area.
Another variety gaining nursery popularity is the giant milkweed (Calotropis gigantea). Monarchs also use this Indonesian native as a host plant also.
I have not seen any research as of yet on if this species is affected by OE since it also grows year round. It tends to like drier conditions and is hardy and I have had success growing it in the past and it quickly becomes quite large. Younger plants tend to be quite floppy and stakes may needed to help it stay more upright and neat.
The queen butterfly also uses the milkweed as a host plant. While the queen is not as widespread as the monarch it can be found throughout Florida.
The monarch and queen look similar in both butterfly and caterpillars stages of their life cycle. Since they both use the same host plants you may not notice that two different species are visiting this plant unless you have taken time to learn the difference.
A queen butterfly has a darker orange brown wing color and its caterpillar is also yellow, black and white but has three pairs of black tentacles. The black tentacles are found in pairs by the head, rear and mid-body.
Where to Buy Milkweeds
Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a very popular landscape plant and is readily available at garden centers, local plant sales or snagging seed pods from established plants. This plant can be easily propagated by cuttings also.
If you have a little patience, one plant can easily create many more for your garden. This can save you a lot of money if you are trying to create lots of beds of milkweed plants or trying to replace plants that have been eaten by hungry caterpillars.
Also save your seeds from the plants since this is another great way to create more food for your butterflies. A 6 inch pot is typically priced around $10 while seeds cost around $1-3 per packet.
