Butterfly Garden
Our Butterfly Garden contains native and Florida-friendly plants that attract and provide shelter for butterflies. Butterflies are excellent pollinators and these plant species are crucial to the continuation of butterfly populations.
The welfare of butterflies is increasingly compromised by the loss of habitat.
A well-planned butterfly garden appeals to many different butterflies and caters to both the adults and their larvae (caterpillars). Their larvae rely on specific plants called host plants for food and are often greatly limited in the number of plants on which they can feed.
All butterflies have a life cycle consisting of four distinct stages: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and adult. Female butterflies lay their eggs on or near an appropriate larval host plant.
Butterfly gardening brings you closer to nature and educates you on the importance of caring for the environment. Enjoy our plants, butterflies, and caterpillars and get inspired to plant the right plants, and spread your “butterfly awareness” to people you know.
Here are some plants that are suitable for a butterfly garden in Sarasota County.
Courtesy of Friends of Osprey Junction Trailhead.
| Common name | Scientific name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Nectar Plants | ||
| Florida Tickseed | Coreopsis leavenworthii (also C. floridana) | FL native |
| Lanceleaf Tickseed | Coreopsis lanceolata | FL native |
| Butterfly sage | Varronia globosa | FL native |
| Tropical sage | Salvia coccinea | FL native |
| Button sage lantana | Lantana involucrata | FL native |
| Starry rosinweed | Silphium astericus | FL native |
| Blue sage | Salvia azurea | FL native |
| Ruby red pentas | Pentas lanceolata | FL friendly |
| Tampa Verbena | Glandularia tampensis | FL native |
| Narrowleaf sunflower | Helianthus angustifolius | FL native |
| Firebush | Hamelia patens | FL native |
| Pineland Heliotrope | Euploca polyphylla aka Heliotropium polyphyllium | FL native |
| Scorpion tail | Heliotropium angiospermum | FL native |
| Dixie Aster - Whitetop aster | Sericocarpus tortifolius | FL native |
| Firebush | Hamelia patens | FL native |
| Larval Plants | ||
| Florida Petunia | Ruellia caroliniensis | FL native |
| Coontie | Zamia integrifolia | FL native |
| Creeping Sage | Salvia misella | FL native |
| St. John's wort | Hypericum tenuifolium | FL native |
| Firebush | Hamelia patens | FL native |
| Privet cassia | Senna ligustrina | FL native |
| Oblongleaf Twinflower | Dyschoriste oblongifolia | FL native |
| Lake Twinflower | Dyschoriste humistrata | FL native |
| Purple thistle | Cirsium horridulum | FL native |
| Wild plumbago | Plumbago zeylanica | FL native |
| Plumbago | Plumbago auriculata | FL friendly |
| False nettle | Boehmeria cylindrica | FL native |
| Pineland Heliotrope | Euploca polyphylla | FL native |
| Bushy aster | Sympyotrichum dumosum | FL native |
| Snow squarestem | Melanthera nivea | FL native |
| Pink swamp milkweed | Asclepias incarnata | FL native |
| Twinevine | Sarcostemma clausum | FL native |
| Corkystem passion vine | Passiflora suberosa | FL native |
| Maypop passion vine | Passiflora incarnata | FL native |