Start Butterfly Gardening


Getting Started
with a Butterfly Garden

A quick guide to getting started from MOSI, Tampa

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. Eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis and butterflies can all be found in a good butterfly garden.

To get the butterflies to arrive, you just need to provide the right plants. Once you start planting your garden, be patient. Butterflies and eggs might show up right away or it may take some time for them to find your garden. If you plant, eventually they will show up. Remember: Native and Florida Friendly 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. Host plants will be eaten by caterpillars, so be ready for caterpillars to be munching on leaves and the plant to not always look great. This is part of the process.

Here is a list of some common Florida butterflies and which host plants they will use for their caterpillars. Some plants are easy to find in stores, others are much difficult. Many host plants are considered weeds!

Attract This Butterfly With This Caterpillar Host
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.

Add some of these nectar plants to your garden to attract all sorts of adult butterflies: Penta, lantana, plumbago, golden dewdrop, salvia, porterweed, butterfly bush, firebush, asters, blazing star, anise hyssop, coreopsis, blanket flower, scorpion tail, rosin weed, firecracker plant or iron weed.

 Web Resources: Learn more online at some of these butterfly and gardening resources:
Book Resources: Want to learn more about butterflies and butterfly gardening? Try your local library for some of these books:

  •  Florida’s Fabulous Butterflies
    • Authors: Emmel, Kenney
    • ISBN: 0911977155
  • Caterpillars of Eastern North America
    • Author: Wagner
    • ISBN: 0691121443
  • Florida Butterfly Gardening
    • Authors: Minno, Minno, Pierce
    • ISBN: 0813016657
  • Your Florida Guide to Butterfly Gardening
    • Author: Daniels
    • ISBN: 0813017904

MOSI    |    Museum of Science and Industry, Tampa FL    |    (813)987-6000    |    http://www.mosi.org/
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