Native Florida Butterfly Plants

Plant flowers Where Butterflies Can Lay Their Eggs

• Start with plants where butterflies can lay their eggs, so that more butterflies will be born in your garden soon. These plants play an especially important role because not only do they host butterfly eggs, but the butterfly larvae eat them after they hatch, according to Your Florida Backyard, a website on native Florida plants. For this reason, it's normal for these plants to have holes in them or seem a little ragged - don't worry, it's just baby butterflies munching away! Good host plants include milkweed, goldenrod, astor and wild petunias.

Plant Nectar Flowers

• It's also important to have plants where butterflies can drink nectar as adults, to keep them in your garden after they're hatched. Both perennials and annual plants can serve this purpose, so decide which fits your garden better. Examples of perennial nectar plants are verbenas, daleas and asters, according to Your Florida Backyard. Annual possibilities are black-eyed Susans and beach sunflowers. Some shrubs also make good nectar plants, including hibiscus, viburnum and azalea. Pick plants that require the level of care you want to provide and that go with your overall garden aesthetic.

Provide Other Butterfly Neccesities

• In addition to planting the right flowers, other steps can be taken to attract butterflies to your garden. During storms, butterflies need shelter in the form of woody plants. If you make sure to have some of these near your butterfly flowers, the butterflies won't have to leave when it rains. Butterflies also can't drink from open water, and instead obtain water from soil or sand that has been moistened. Keeping a flower pot of wet soil near your butterfly flowers will give the butterflies easy access to water. Appreciate the butterflies that come to your garden by providing them with as many resources as you can.