Getting Started with a Tampa Butterfly Garden

A butterfly garden requires a good mix of butterfly nectar and host plants so that butterflies will not only be attracted to your garden for a drink, but they will also lay eggs. This will provide a location for the entire butterfly lifecycle to occur. Native plants not only encourage better habitats for butterflies but also reduce the costs of watering.

Host Plants:

Host plants are plants on which butterflies will lay their eggs. Butterflies are specialists, and their larvae can only consume certain types of plants per species. Here is a list of some common butterflies in the Tampa Bay area and which host plants they will use for their caterpillars. Add some of these plants to your yard to create a butterfly factory.

• Monarch: Milkweed (Asclepias currasavica)
• Queen: Milkweed (Asclepias currasavica)
• Zebra Longwing : Passionvine (Passiflora incarnata)
• Gulf Fritillary: Passionvine (Passiflora incarnata)
• Orange Barred Sulphur: Cassia (Cassia bicapsularis)
• Cloudless Sulphur: Cassia (Cassia bicapsularis)
• Polydamas Swallowtail: Piepvines (Aristolochia gigantea)
• Pipevine Swallowtail: Pipevines (Arisotlochia trilobata)
• Spicebush Swallowtail: Camphor (Cinnamomum camphora) & Red Bay (Persea borbonia)
• Giant Swallowtail: Hercules Club (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis), Various Citrus, Wild Lime (Zanthoxylum fagara)
• Eastern Black Swallowtail: Parsley, Dill, Fennel Various
• Red Admiral False Nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica)
• White Peacock Lemon Bacopa (Bacopa caroliniana)
• Long Tailed Skipper: Legumes like beans or Beggars Tick (Desmodium lineatum)

Nectar Plants:

Nectar plants are used by most butterflies, but some types will attract more of one species of butterflies than others. It is helpful to have a variety of these available so that many species of butterflies will be drawn to your garden.

• Penta (Pentas lanceolatas)
• Lantana (Lantana camara)
• Golden Dewdrop (Duranta)
• Salvia (Salvia coccinea)
• Porterweed (Stachytarpheta)
• Butterfly Bush (Buddleia)
• Firebush (Hamelia patens)
• Asters (Aster sp.)
• Blazing star (Liatris spicata)

Book Resources:

• Florida’s Fabulous Butterflies
  • Author: Thomas C. Emmel, Brian Kenney
  • ISBN: 0911977155
• Caterpillars of Eastern North America
  • Author: David L Wagner
  • ISBN: 0-691-12144-3
• Florida Butterfly Gardening
  • Author: Marc Minno, Maria Minno, Diane Pierce
  • ISBN: 0813016657
• Your Florida Guide to Butterfly Gardening
  • Author: Jaret C. Daniels
  • ISBN: 0813017904

Web Resources:

• NSiS Native Butterfly Gardening:
  • http://www.nsis.org/butterfly/butterfly.html
• Florida Gardener
  • http://www.floridagardener.com/butterflies/butterflyplants.htm
• BioWorks Butterfly Garden @ MOSI
  • http://www.mosi.org/bioworks.html

Learning More:

Many wonderful resources exist for butterfly gardening in the state of Florida, and especially in the Tampa Bay area. If you are interested to learn about rearing butterflies or sharing your interest in these creatures with others, consider volunteering with the BioWorks Butterfly Garden at MOSI. We are currently seeking butterfly enthusiasts for the following volunteer positions:

Volunteer Garden Assistant: Garden assistants will be occupied with tasks of grounds keeping, plant maintenance, weeding, potting, watering and some cleaning tasks such as floor sweeping and cleaning of signage. Garden assistants will work mostly outside, including in summer and winter months.

Volunteer Butterfly Assistant: Butterfly assistants will be occupied with rearing larvae, pinning chrysalises, lab cleaning, lab maintenance, data recording, and helping to maintain a healthy population of butterflies. Insect collection will require some out-of-doors work especially in summer months to collect butterflies and host plants used within the rearing lab.

Volunteer BioWorks Presenter: Presenters will be occupied with answering questions and providing information on garden topics of water conservation, horticulture, and butterflies. These presenters are our front line butterfly enthusiasts who work to inspire guests of all ages to learn more

Interested in volunteering? Please contact Kristen Gilpin, the MOSI Butterfly Keeper at (813) 987-6357 or email kristeng@mosi.org