Butterfly Gardening

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 to which plants they can feed on.

A wide assortment of flowers is better than having just a few kinds. Butterflies are attracted to brightly colored, simple flowers with good places to perch. To make sure that nectar is always available, choose your flowers so that something is always in bloom.

Select plants that are suitable for your landscape, and use pesticides carefully to avoid harming your butterfly guests and other beneficial insects.

UF/IFAS Books

• Your Florida Guide to Butterfly Gardening

UF/IFAS Sites

• School Gardens: Butterfly Garden Basics
• Solutions for Your Life: Butterfly Gardens

UF/IFAS Publications

• Butterfly Gardening in Florida
• Community ButterflyScaping: How to Move Beyond Butterfly Gardening to Create a Large-Scale Butterfly Habitat
• Do Something Good for Florida – Start a Butterfly Garden (PDF)
• EDIS Publications on Butterfly Plants
• EDIS Publications on Specific Butterflies
• Florida Coonties and Atala Butterflies
• Getting Started in Butterfly Gardening
• Invite Butterflies to Your Garden (PDF)

Also on Gardening in a Minute

• Beggar's Tick
• Black-Eyed Susan
• Bottlebrush
• Butterfly Bush
• Cassia
• Coral Bean
• Coral Honeysuckle
• Dill
• Fennel
• Firebush
• Firecracker Plant
• Firespike
• Garden Projects for Kids
• Gumbo-Limbo Tree
• Landscaping for Wildlife
• Lantana
• Lion's Ear
• Maypop
• Milkweed
• Parsley
• Pawpaw
• Purple Coneflower

Other Sites

• Attracting Butterflies--National Wildlife Federation
• Butterfly Gardening--Clemson (SC) Cooperative Extension
• Butterfly Gardening--University of Kansas Monarch Watch
• Butterfly House--Missouri Botanical Garden
• Grow a Butterfly Garden--American Museum of Natural History
• How to Make Butterfly Gardens--University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension
• Regional Brochures from the North American Butterfly Association (about halfway down the page, PDF)