Planting a butterfly garden is a great way to beautify your yard and help attract many of the different butterflies found in Florida. Most butterfly gardens are also a magnet for hummingbirds and beneficial insects. A productive butterfly garden does not require a large land area—even a few key plants can make a huge impact.
To generate a list of host plants for a specific area, visit Florida Native Plant Society’s website.
Here are a few of the plants currently blooming in Heathcote’s butterfly garden.
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- Blanket Flower
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- Tree Marigold
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- Pentas
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- Lion’s Ear
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- Dutchman’s Pipe
There are more than 765 species of butterflies found in North America north of Mexico. Florida boasts over 180 verified butterfly species representing some 170 native or newly established species and 17 tropical vagrants. Within that mix, around 40 are considered either unique to the state or occur mostly within its boundaries. This diverse butterfly fauna is the highest of any state east of the Mississippi River and helps make Florida a premier location for butterfly gardeners.
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Butterfly information from document WEC 22, one of a series of the Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Original publication date December 1990. Revised February 2008. Reviewed October 2014. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
