Although it grows well statewide, Florida offers many drawbacks to planting it directly into the ground, as nematodes, rust and mites cause problems. For the best looks and least amount of problems, grow butterfly bush in containers and situate in full sun. It has a low tolerance to salt spray and drought.
What plants do butterflies like in Florida?
Bottlebrush, Firebush, Milkweed, and Lantana are some of the more common plants that attract butterflies to a Florida garden. If you want to have a successful butterfly garden in Florida you must also think about having both nectar and host plants, but also provide a water source and shelter for butterflies and baby caterpillars.
How many types of butterflies are there in Florida?
Boasting more than 180 different butterflies, with many native to the state and holding the honor of having the most diverse butterfly species east of the Mississippi River, Florida is a butterfly paradise for those wishing to grow plants to attract the fluttering beauties to their garden.
What makes a successful butterfly garden in Florida?
If you want to have a successful butterfly garden in Florida you must also think about having both nectar and host plants, but also provide a water source and shelter for butterflies and baby caterpillars.
Are butterfly bushes easy to grow?
Butterfly bush is hard to beat for sheer flower power. These easy, sun-loving shrubs come in an array of rich colors, bloom continuously from summer to fall, and attract butterflies and hummingbirds by the score. Butterfly bush are easy to grow, but you do need to know a bit about their preferences and requirements to achieve maximum success.
Are butterfly bushes invasive in Florida?
Although eye-catching, hardy, and seemingly helpful to butterflies and other pollinators, Butterfly Bush is far from beneficial; in fact it's actually an invasive species that can impair the health of our local ecosystems.
Where do butterfly bushes grow in Florida?
0:101:59Planting a Butterfly Garden - Flowers for Florida - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipMake sure that your garden area has plenty of sunlight. And the soil drains well you can add someMoreMake sure that your garden area has plenty of sunlight. And the soil drains well you can add some compost or garden soil to enrich the area where you're going to plant the flowers.
Can you have a butterfly garden in Florida?
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.
What bushes attract butterflies Florida?
Here are some great options of plants that will attract butterflies:Lantana.Penta.Buddleia.Firebush.Salvia.Porterweed.Sweet Almond Bush.Firespike.More items...•
How do you make a butterfly garden in Florida?
Follow these simple steps to establish a Florida native butterfly garden:Choose a site that receives 4 or more hours of full sun to partial shade.Plant 3 or more of each flower species for visual impact.Plant flowers of varying heights and flower size and that bloom from March through November.Water to establish.More items...
Will a butterfly bush grow in Central Florida?
In West Central Florida, buddleia just does not do well. Although we occasionally put a few buddleia in the Flight Encounter for the butterflies, buddleia does not survive well in Florida. Our long, hot summers stress Buddleia davidii (the most common cultivar) and plants often succumb to mites, rust and nematodes.
Can I grow butterfly bush in South Florida?
South Florida is a perfect paradise for butterfly gardening, with warm climate and hundreds of butterfly plants - and many butterfly species to enjoy. You can create a dedicated butterfly garden or just tuck a few plants that attract butterflies into your landscaping.
How do you make a butterfly garden in Central Florida?
3:164:41Central Florida Gardening - Plants for Butterfly Gardening - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipIt's important not to use pesticides. In your butterfly garden. Because they'll be detrimental toMoreIt's important not to use pesticides. In your butterfly garden. Because they'll be detrimental to your butterflies. Right so even milkweed again will get covered in a fits. But really they can be
What flower attracts butterflies the most?
For butterflies, Joe-Pye weed, ironweed, coneflowers, goldenrod, and brightly-hued asters are nectar-filled favorites. A monarch caterpillar feasting on milkweed.
What plant attracts hummingbirds in Florida?
To attract hummingbirds to your garden, choose plants with brightly colored or tubular flowers, like hibiscus or the native coral honeysuckle. Hummingbirds prefer red, orange, and pink flowers, and use their long tongues to sip the nectar found within.
What plants do Florida hummingbirds like?
Florida Native Plants Used to Attract HummingbirdsFirebush, Hamelia patens.Coral honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens.Coralbean, Erythrina herbacea.Tropical Sage, Salvia coccinea.Crossvine, Bignonia capreolata.Cardinalflower, Lobelia cardinalis.Necklace Pod, Sophora tomentosa.
What do butterflies in Florida eat?
Butterflies and their Larval Host Plants Visit our blog on Milkweed Species for Central Florida for more information. Monarch caterpillars eat the leaves of the milkweed plants and adult butterflies can eat nectar from the milkweed flowers.
How do you attract monarch butterflies in Florida?
“With monarchs flying down from Canada to Mexico, we get some migration through Florida in the fall and sometimes in the spring.” Attracting these migratory butterflies into the yard requires plants that provide nectar, such as passionflower vine (Passiflora incarnata), firebush (Hamelia patens), and lantana (Lantana).
How do you attract butterflies in South Florida?
Butterfly Gardening & Plants for South FloridaAdult butterflies need nectar plants on which to feed. ... If you'd prefer more control over the look of your landscape plants, use nectar plants. ... Place nectar plants and host plants in sunny areas protected from winds.More items...
Is Lantana native to Florida?
Florida has native varieties of lantana: Lantana involucrata and Lantana depressa. But even in their native range along the South Florida coasts they are rare. To include native lantana in your landscape, visit a reliable native nursery. Both species are available, and very attractive to our native pollinators.
Can Black Eyed Susan grow in Florida?
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) is a bright, cheerful wildflower found throughout Florida in sandhills, flatwoods and disturbed areas. It is an excellent nectar source for a variety of butterflies and bees and is also a larval host to some moths. The seeds are eaten by birds.
What plants attract butterflies to Florida?
Bottlebrush, Firebush, Milkweed, and Lantana are some of the more common plants that attract butterflies to a Florida garden. If you want to have a successful butterfly garden in Florida you must also think about having both nectar and host plants, but also provide a water source and shelter for butterflies and baby caterpillars.
How many butterflies are there in Florida?
Boasting more than 180 different butterflies, with many native to the state and holding the honor of having the most diverse butterfly species east of the Mississippi River, Florida is a butterfly paradise for those wishing to grow plants to attract the fluttering beauties to their garden.
What is a firebush shrub?
Native firebush offers almost year-round color with its bright clusters of red tubular flowers blooming from spring until a frost followed by clusters of small dark berries. Hummingbirds delight in the flowers, as well as butterflies like the gulf fritillary and zebra longwing. The shrub also attracts birds feasting on the berries. The evergreen thrives statewide, but those in North Florida may have it die to the ground only to regrow in spring. Firebush produces the most flowers situated in full sun, although it also grows in partial shade and in well-drained soil. It’s a welcome addition to gardens along the coast as its salt-tolerant and tolerates drought once established.
What is a Jatropha plant?
Jatropha plants offer a year-round brilliantly colored display of clusters of bright red or pink flowers that will have hummingbirds and butterflies visiting your garden. The two common species of this evergreen shrub or small tree that are hardy growing in South and Central Florida are Jatropha integerrima, commonly called peregrine and Jatropha multifidi, better known as coral plant. Although they flower best grown in full sun, they also tolerate growing in partial shade and in a variety of well-drained soils.
What is a passion flower in Florida?
Although there are several species of passion flowers native to Florida, Maypop (Passiflora incarnate) is the showiest, producing exotic 3- to 5-inch blooms that are purple or lavender and with wavy fringes over the petals. Flowers last for a day and green oval fruits form after the blooms fade that are edible, but said to not taste too good. The blooms attract a host of pollinators from bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, bats and other insects. It’s also a host plant for zebra heliconia, checkered fritillary and gulf fritillary butterflies. Grow passion flower in a sunny site in fertile well-drained soil.
What is the color of honeysuckle in Florida?
Coral honeysuckle is a native vine that grows well in all areas of Florida. In springtime, long tubular flowers form in clusters and continue blooming through summer, attracting hummingbirds as well as butterflies. Depending on the variety, flowers are coral red or yellow.
What are the different types of butterflies?
Some of the more common butterfly species include: 1 Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly: A smaller butterfly, with adults a bright yellow, although females are sometime white and a lighter yellow. 2 Zebra Swallowtail: Large butterfly with a wingspread of up to 4 inches. The top of the wings are white and striped in black, with the bottom wings sporting long tails. 3 Red-Spotted Purple: Large butterfly with a wingspread of around 3.5 inches. The wings are an eye-catching blue-black color, with white and red spots lining the outer wings. 4 Zebra Longwing: Florida’s state butterfly. The butterfly is medium-sized and sports distinctive black elongated wings striped in a bright yellow. 5 Gulf Fritillary: A medium-sized butterfly that is bright orange with elongated wings containing black markings. 6 Black Swallowtail: A medium to large butterfly with wingspreads around 8.4 cm. The upper wings are black with yellow spots and the lower wings have iridescent blue markings. The front portion of the wing’s underside contains two rows of light yellow spots and the lower wing section has bright orange spots and a section of powdery blue.
The Real Butterfly Bush
They don’t call buddleia “butterfly bush” for nothing. Trouble is, here in south Florida Buddleia davidii behaves as a short-lived perennial. It starts out healthy enough, but its flower spikes get smaller and smaller until the plant dies.
by Tom Hewitt
They don’t call buddleia “butterfly bush” for nothing. Trouble is, here in south Florida Buddleia davidii behaves as a short-lived perennial. It starts out healthy enough, but its flower spikes get smaller and smaller until the plant dies.
How many butterflies are there in Florida?
Florida has over 200 species of butterflies, some of which cannot be found anywhere else on Earth. To attract these delicate creatures, your butterfly garden must provide food for both the adult butterflies and their caterpillars. Though many butterflies will drink nectar from a variety of flowering plants, their caterpillars are often limited as ...
How to attract butterflies to a garden?
Aim for a consistent host plant and floral venue throughout the growing season: choose plants that have different blooming times; ensures that garden remains attractive and productive as long as possible; provides food for butterflies during periods of low natural availability.
What is the purpose of nectar for butterflies?
Provide a combination of adult nectar sources and larval host plants: attracts maximum variety of butterfly species; encourages butterflies to remain in your yard, reproduce, and build populations instead of just passing through; allows gardener to appreciate all life stages.
What are the components of a butterfly garden?
Major Components of a Successful Butterfly Garden. Adult nectar sources: attract and nourish adult butterflies. Larval host plants: attract ovipositing female butterflies, serve as a food source for developing larvae. Shelter: vegetation that provides protection from temperature extremes, storms/rain, and predators as well as locations ...
Why is a butterfly garden important?
A well-planned butterfly garden becomes a small, but representative sample of the surrounding habitat and as such provides a safe haven for butterflies and other wildlife to gather, seek shelter, acquire food and water, reproduce and build populations; do not underestimate the importance of even a small garden.
How to keep butterflies away from my garden?
Select plants that are suitable for your landscape, and use pesticides carefully to avoid harming your butterfly guests and other beneficial insects.
Can you use pesticides on butterflies?
Avoid pesticide application when possible: all butterfly life history stages are very sensitive to pesticides; avoid Bacillus thuringiensis; when pest problem arises treat it locally; use beneficial insects/natural enemies.
How to make a butterfly habitat?
You can create a butterfly habitat complete with resting places to bask in the sun, shelter from winds and from birds, and a water source - as well as host and nectar plants.
What attracts butterflies to a plant?
Host - or larval plants - attract female butterflies who lay their eggs on the plant.
What butterfly plants attract monarch butterflies?
Milkweed, one of the most commonly sold butterfly plants, attracts the monarch butterfly. Gulf fritillary loves passion vine. Black swallowtails enjoy fennel, parsley and dill. The cloudless sulfur likes cassia flowers. Butterflies also help pollinate flowers as they sip nectar.
What to use for butterflies in landscape?
If you'd prefer more control over the look of your landscape plants, use nectar plants. Most homeowners prefer this method of butterfly gardening...the butterflies flutter and feed, you smile and enjoy, and everybody's happy.
Why do butterflies need to bask in the sun?
They're cold-blooded, so they don't produce body heat. As a result they need to bask in the sun to raise their body temperature, giving them the energy they need to move freely. But in our warm climate, basking is usually only briefly necessary.
Why do male butterflies drink from a puddle of water?
Male butterflies will drink from a puddle of water in order to absorb salts that help with fertility.
Where to place butterflies to observe?
To observe butterflies more closely, place plants in an area near the house - or even in windowboxes and patio containers where you'll have easier visual access than across an expanse of yard.
What is the magic of butterflies?
There is something magical about butterflies. I have yet to meet a person in the garden that does not smile when one glides by, landing on the nearest bloom. Butterflies are just one more living thing in the garden that brings happiness to young and old alike . For the older of us, they bring back sweet childhood memories.
How many seasons does Florida have?
Conditions in the state enable Floridians to grow in four different climates. The northern part of Florida has four seasons, though the winters are not extreme, there are freezes. The summers can be hotter than central and south Florida.
Can you grow native plants in the Sunshine State?
It is only a sampling of the native plants one can grow in the Sunshine State. You may want to do a more in-depth search to locate the perfect plants for your garden and zone. The first list is perennials. Tried and true, perennials come back year after year without having to replant them.
Is Florida hotter in summer?
The summers can be hotter than central and south Florida. As you travel further south into central Florida, the climate becomes subtropical, although, they can have a hard freeze during extreme winters. The climate tends to be more tropical in the Keys.
Can you reseed annuals in Florida?
I have not included annuals in this article, however, there are many native annuals that freely reseed here in Florida. You may wish to look into which ones might add to your garden. I've also left trees off the list, but there are many that would be great additions to your yard.
1. Cosmos
Cosmos, a member of the daisy family, appeals to monarch butterflies due to their abundance of petals and large nectar reserves. These delicate-looking plants are easy to care for and grow.
2. Black-Eyed Susan
Black-eyed susans and coneflowers appeal to butterflies because the flowers provide a secure landing spot. They are also frequently visited by native bees. A lovely flower that will brighten up your yard with its yellow-orange petals and vivid purple-black center.
3. Goldenrod
Goldenrod plants are tall and thin, with fluffy colorful flower spikes of various colors. They’re beautiful when they’re in bloom in late summer and early fall and have light green foliage that is also appealing.
4. Marigolds
Marigolds are small bushy plants with dark green feathery leaves and a lovely scent. The flowers come in various colors, including oranges, yellows, maroons, and bi-colors.
5. Pentas
Pentas are one of the most beautiful annual summer-color plants that come in white, red, and pink, as well as lavender and purple varieties. Their flowers provide plenty of nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds; they are essentially pollinator magnets.
6. Lantana
A pollinator-friendly garden must have lantana. Aside from the delectable nectar and enticing aroma, the general flower structure is ideal as a landing pad for various pollinators. It is known for its spherical clusters of tiny, vividly colored flowers that come in yellow, orange, white, red, pink, blue, and purple colors.
7. Sunflowers
Sunflowers bloom all summer and fall, supplying migratory butterflies with a sufficient food supply. They are eye-catching, give your yard a lot of flair, and even unskilled gardeners can grow sunflowers from seed.
When do butterfly bushes leaf out?
Butterfly bushes tend to be one of the later plants to leaf out in spring. Even if everything else in your landscape is turning green, that doesn’t mean you’ve lost your butterfly bush. Many people recommend waiting til as late as Father’s Day (the third Sunday in June) to be certain their butterfly bush perished.
How much sun does a butterfly bush need?
Butterfly bush need full sun. When we say full sun, we mean it – butterfly bush require a minimum of 8 hours of bright sunlight. Even in warm climates, plant them where they get no fewer than 6 hours of sun. Butterfly bush need perfect drainage.
How to tell if a butterfly bush is overwatered?
Signs of overwatering include weak stems, fewer flowers, and dieback. Avoid fall planting. Because butterfly bush may get a bit of winter damage in cold climates, it’s best to give them as long a time as possible to get established before they face the challenges of the cold, wet season.
Why do butterfly bush roots die?
Most of the time, if you lose a butterfly bush after winter, it wasn’t due to low temperatures or snow or ice – it was because the plant sat in cold, wet soil in fall or spring.
What is butterfly weed?
When most people say “butterfly weed,” they are referring to one of several species of milkweed ( Asclepias sp .), an herbaceous plant. Butterfly bush ( Buddleia sp .) is a woody plant (shrub).
Why do butterflies like butterfly bush?
Butterfly bush attracts butterflies because its flowers are high in nectar. However, this nectar only sustains the butterflies themselves – it does not provide crucial food sources for caterpillars (which are the larval or “baby” stage of a butterfly’s life cycle).
Do you prune butterfly bushes?
But do prune your butterfly bush. Left unpruned, large butterfly bushes can become “second story” plants: their flowers form way up at the top so you can’t enjoy them unless you have a second story window. The warmer your climate, the more you should cut back your butterfly bush each spring. Even dwarf varieties like our Lo & Behold ® series still need pruning – you’ll just be cutting back less than you would on a variety that reaches 8’ tall.