Published: October 29, 2018, 9:31am | Modified: June 19, 2019, 12:06pm
If you live in Florida, starting your own butterfly garden is easy and will bring life to your yard in no time. A host plant is any plant on which a butterfly will lay its eggs and of which the caterpillars will feed on until the pupa stage. Butterflies can smell a host plant from a mile away.
Milkweed
Milkweed is a native weed to the state of Florida, which means that it is easy to grow in full sun to some shade. Watering once or twice a week is about all it really needs. The most wonderful thing about milkweed is that it is a host plant for the iconic, beautiful monarch butterfly.
Pipe Vine
Grow pipe vine to attract the pipe vine swallowtail. Pipe vine, also known as Dutchman's pipe and birthwort, grows easily in the Floridian climate and is a native. It needs lots of sunshine and regular amounts of water. It is a climbing vine, so you'll need a place where the vine can climb such as a fence or trellis. The flowers are odd-looking or alien-like and can usually be seen hiding behind the large green leaves.
Cassia
It is considered a bush or shrub and can grow to be between 3 and 5 feet tall. The yellow blooms are a beautiful accent to your yard or garden and open in the fall when other flowers might not be blooming. The two most popular forms in Florida are the candlestick bush and butterfly bush. These plants are also called Senna. This beautiful bush attracts and is the host plant to three native Florida butterflies - the Cloudless Sulphur butterfly, sleepy orange butterfly, and the orange-barred Sulphur butterfly.
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