Central Florida Butterfly Garden Guide

Rabbit Hill Gardens Herb Farm

Central Florida
BUTTERFLY
GARDENING
GUIDE

A list of our favorite BUTTERFLY HOST/LARVAL PLANTS
and the butterflies they are hosts for.

A list of our favorite BUTTERFLY NECTAR PLANTS.

Our favorite BOOKS ON BUTTERFLY GARDENING IN FLORIDA.

We currently have several videos available for rent in our shop
(in VHS only, sorry no DVD):
Your Florida Guide to Butterfly Gardening produced by Univ of FL
Audubon Society's Butterfly Gardening
Audubon Society's Butterflies for Beginners
and
Attracting Butterflies to your Backyard

Butterfly gardens are gardens that attract butterflies by supplying nectar plants for adult butterflies to feed on and host/larval plants for their caterpillars.
Each nectar plant attracts a wide variety of adult butterflies. But each host/larval plant attracts very specific butterfly species.

Butterflies will be attracted to a garden by nectar plants alone, but many more female butterflies will seek out a garden that offers host/larval plants on which to lay their eggs. The best butterfly gardens contain a variety of both types of plants.

Most butterflies like lots of sun and so do the butterflies themselves. Butterflies need to be warm for them to fly which is why you will find many more butterflies in your garden on sunny days than on overcast ones. Butterflies lay more eggs and caterpillars grow much faster with plenty of sunlight.

Areas that provide windbreaks or hedges protect your butterflies from strong winds that can cause them to expend a lot of energy. These shelter areas also provide protection from storms, temperature extremes and predators.

Many butterflies also take part in an activity called 'puddling". Males particularly like to soak up water from very shallow damp areas in sand or soil and obtain minerals, especially sodium, in this way. A pan or pot saucer filled with sand and kept damp can be a welcome addition to your butterfly garden.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I really attract butterflies to my garden? Absolutely! Female butterflies will especially be drawn from some distances by host/larval plants. These females will attract males. And both will stay to feed on your nectar plants. On a sunny summer day, we have counted as many as 8 different species in a 15 minute span.

Won't the caterpillars kill my host/larval plants? Rarely. Although caterpillars can quickly defoliate a plant, the plants nearly always send out new growth and recover.

Do butterfly gardens need a lot of special care? Actually, many of the best butterfly plants are native plants (after all, these are the plants native butterflies have been using for a long time). And native plants are generally easier to care for.

How long do butterflies live? Most eggs hatch in 4-7 days, although at certain times of the year, butterflies will over-winter in this stage. Caterpillars grow quickly and in the right conditions go through this stage in about two weeks. The amazing changes that take place in the chrysalis take about 7-10 days, although again, some butterflies can over-winter in this stage. Finally, most adults live several weeks although some like Monarchs can live as long as nine months.

Do butterflies use those butterfly houses? Well, no not really. They are meant to be hibernation houses. Butterflies in this area don't hibernate and even in areas where they do, they don't really make use of houses like birds do. The houses make a cute decorative item in the garden, however, and sort of say "this is a butterfly garden".

	BUTTERFLY HOST/LARVAL PLANTS
COMMON NAME(S)	BOTANICAL NAME	HOST PLANT FOR:
SCARLET MILKWEED	Asclepias curassavica	Monarch, Queen
YELLOW MILKWEED	Asclepias curassavica 'Silky Gold'	Monarch, Queen
GIANT PIPEVINE/ PELICAN FLOWER	Aristolochia gigantea	Gold Rim Swallowtail
PIPEVINE/ DUTCHMAN'S PIPE/ CALICO FLOWER	Aristolochia elegans recently renamed Aristolochia littoralis	Gold Rim Swallowtail, Pipevine Swallowtail
MAYPOP PASSIONVINE	Passiflora incarnata	Gulf Fritillary, Variegated Fritillary, Zebra Longwing
INCENSE PASSIONVINE	Passiflora 'Incense'	Gulf Fritillary, Variegated Fritillary, Zebra Longwing
CORKEY STEMMED PASSIONVINE	Passiflora suberosa	Gulf Fritillary, Variegated Fritillary, Zebra Longwing
HERCULES CLUB/ SO. PRICKLY ASH/ TOOTHACHE TREE	Zanthoxylum clava-herculis	Giant Swallowtail
RUE	Ruta graveolens	Giant Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail
DILL (Fall-early spring only)	Anethum graveolens	Black Swallowtail
FENNEL	Foeniculum vulgare	Black Swallowtail
PARSLEY (curly or flat Italian)	Petroselinum crispum	Black Swallowtail
PLUMBAGO/LEADWORT	Plumbago auriculata	Cassius Blue
FALSE NETTLE	Boehmeria cylindrica	Red Admiral
STINGING NETTLE (Ouch!)	Urtica dioica	Red Admiral
LEMON BACOPA	Bacopa caroliniana	White Peacock
SWEET BAY TREE	Magnolia virginiana	Tiger Swallowtail
RED BAY TREE	Persea borbonia	Palamedes Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail
HACKBERRY/ SUGARBERRY TREE	Celtis laevigata	Hackberry, Tawny Emperor, Snout, Question Mark
SMALLFLOWER PAWPAW	Asimina parviflora	Zebra Swallowtail
BUTTERFLY CASSIA/ CHRISTMAS SENNA	Cassia bicapsularis	Sulphurs esp. Sleepy Orange, Cloudless Sulphur, Orange- Barred Sulphur
CANDLE PLANT	Cassia alata	Sulphurs esp. Orange-Barred Sulphur
BUTTERFLY PEA	Clitoria ternatea	Long-Tailed Skipper

	BUTTERFLY NECTAR PLANTS
COMMON NAME(S)	BOTANICAL NAME	NOTES
LANTANA	Lantana camara assorted cultivars	These and pentas are by far the two most popular butterfly nectar plants in our display gardens. We carry the multi-colored cultivars as the butterflies seem to prefer them to the single colors.
PENTAS	Pentas lanceolata	Butterflies love pentas and particularly the TALL RED pentas which are frequently harder to find and are the only ones we carry.
BUTTERFLY BUSH	Buddleia davidii assorted cultivars and other Buddleia species	Several colors available. BUDDLEIA COLOR CHART Give it plenty of room.
PURPLE PORTERWEED	Stachytarpheta sp	Large (5-6 feet tall) Purple flowers.
BLUE PORTERWEED	Stachytarpheta sp.	Much smaller plant than purple or pink varieties. Blue flowers.
PINK PORTERWEED	Stachytarpheta mutabilis	From South America. Large (5 feet tall). Pink flowers.
RED PORTERWEED	Stachytarpheta sp	Dwarf
TITHONIA/ MEXICAN SUNFLOWER	Tithonia rotundifolia	Tall annual with intensely orange flowers.
TITHONIA/ TREE SUNFLOWER	Tithonia diversifolia	Large tree-sized perennial with yellow flowers.
TROPICAL SAGE	Salvia coccinea
MEXICAN FLAME VINE	Senecio confuses
CLIMBING ASTER	Aster caroliniensis	Flowers in fall and winter when other nectar food is scarse.
FIRE BUSH	Hamelia patens
GOLDEN DEWDROP	Duranta repens
COREOPSIS/TICKSEED	Coreopsis leavenworthii
IRONWEED	Vernonia angustifolia or gigantea	Gigantea is very tall
MEXICAN BUSH SAGE	Salvia leucantha	Not just for butterflies but one of OUR favorite plants. Blooms all year round with flowers suitable for cutting and drying.
STOKE'S ASTER	Stokesia leavis
SEASIDE GOLDENROD	Solidago sempervirens
STANDING CYPRESS	Ipomopsis rubra	Very tall with bright red flowers. Prefers alkaline soil and dry conditions.
BLAZING STARS/ GAY FEATHER	Liatris spicata
INDIAN BLANKET/ BLANKET FLOWER	Gaillardia species
PURPLE CONEFLOWER	Echinacea purpurea
VERBENA 'HOMESTEAD PURPLE'	Verbena 'Homestead Purple'	An heirloom flower
UPRIGHT VERBENA	Verbena bonariensis	Tall upright stems sway in the breeze.

	BUTTERFLY PLANTS Rabbit Hill Gardens Herb Farm carries host/larval and nectar plants specially chosen to enhance the beauty of your garden as well as attract a wide variety of butterflies native to Central Florida. If you are just starting a butterfly garden, we suggest beginning with those plants in BOLD
CHECK TO SEE WHAT'S CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN THE NURSERY HERE.