Florida Native Butterflies

Creating a Garden for Florida Native Butterflies

There is something special about seeing a butterfly flutter through your garden. One minute you are watering a plant or walking outside, and the next you notice a flash of blue, yellow, orange, or brown moving from flower to flower. Sometimes it stays only a few seconds. Other times, it settles in and gives you the chance to watch.

But a butterfly garden can be much more than a collection of pretty flowers. When we plant the right plants, we can create a small habitat where butterflies can feed, lay eggs, grow from caterpillars, and eventually emerge as adults. In other words, we can give them a place to complete their entire life cycle.

That is what makes growing a butterfly garden so fascinating.

For more butterfly gardening advice, visit the University of Florida IFAS Extension.

Florida Native Butterflies You May See in Your Garden

Florida is home to more than 200 species of butterflies, including species that are especially well adapted to Florida’s warm climate and diverse habitats. Florida native butterflies thrive when gardens provide suitable host plants, nectar flowers, and shelter.

From coastal areas and wetlands to forests, gardens, and backyards, butterflies can be found throughout the state.

The butterflies you see will depend partly on where you live and what plants and habitats are nearby. A garden in South Florida will not necessarily attract exactly the same species as a garden in North Florida.

That is one of the things I love about butterfly gardening.

You never quite know who is going to show up.

A Butterfly Garden Needs More Than Flowers

When most people think about attracting butterflies, they think about flowers.

Flowers are certainly important because adult butterflies need nectar for food. But flowers alone don’t provide everything a butterfly needs.

Adult butterflies need nectar plants.

Caterpillars need host plants.

Nectar plants provide food for adult butterflies. Host plants are the plants where butterflies lay their eggs and where their caterpillars feed after they hatch. Different butterfly species can be very particular about which plants their caterpillars can eat.

This distinction changed the way I look at my own garden.

A plant that looks like it has been completely chewed up may actually be doing exactly what I hoped it would do.

Host Plants Are Supposed to Get Eaten

This is one of the hardest lessons for a gardener to accept.

We spend time caring for our plants. We water them, fertilize them when appropriate, prune them, and admire their flowers.

Then suddenly there are holes in the leaves. And more holes, and more!

But when those holes are being made by hungry caterpillars, that is not necessarily a problem. It can be a sign that your garden is working.

Host plants are meant to be eaten.

If you want butterflies to reproduce in your garden, you have to be willing to share some of your plants with their caterpillars.

I think of it as putting out a little sign that says: “Butterflies welcome. Caterpillars too.”

Passion Vine: A Butterfly Favorite

Passion vine is one of the plants that can make a butterfly garden especially interesting.

Purple passionflower and other suitable passion vines serve as host plants for two beautiful Florida butterflies: the Gulf Fritillary and the Zebra Longwing. The Zebra Longwing is Florida’s state butterfly.

This is where butterfly gardening becomes more than watching adults visit flowers.

You may notice eggs. Then tiny caterpillars. Then larger caterpillars eating their way through the leaves. Then a chrysalis. And finally, a butterfly.

Watching that transformation happen in your own garden is an entirely different experience from simply seeing a butterfly pass through.

Milkweed and the Butterfly Life Cycle.

Milkweed is another important host plant in Florida butterfly gardens, particularly for monarchs. It can also provide nectar for adult butterflies.

Florida has several milkweed species, and the right choice depends on your location and growing conditions.

If caterpillars find your milkweed, you may notice that the plants can disappear surprisingly quickly.

Don’t panic.

If you are growing milkweed specifically to support caterpillars, some amount of damage is exactly what you want.

Native Plants Make a Difference

Native plants are especially valuable in a Florida butterfly garden because they are adapted to Florida’s climate and can provide important relationships with local wildlife.

Some Florida native plants commonly used in butterfly gardens include:

• Black-eyed Susan
• Butterfly milkweed
• Firebush
• Buttonbush
• Beach sunflower
• Blue porterweed
• Tropical sage
• Goldenrod
• Purple coneflower
• Passion vine

The best plants for your garden will depend on your part of Florida, available sunlight, soil, moisture, and the butterflies you hope to attract.

You Don’t Need a Huge Garden

One of my favorite things about butterfly gardening is that you don’t need acres of land.

A butterfly habitat can begin with a few carefully chosen plants.

You can grow butterfly plants in:

• A traditional flower bed
• Containers
• A small backyard garden
• A patio garden
• A screened lanai
• A larger naturalized landscape

The important thing is to think about what butterflies need rather than simply how many flowers you can fit into one space.