Central Florida Butterfly Gardening Central Florida Butterfly Gardening, Butterfly Gardeners, Butterfly Gardening, Butterfly Plants

Butterbloom's Garden..................Page 3


Since a Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words.....

I enjoy taking pictures of my flora and my fauna. I am a novice photographer but I still enjoy the rewards of capturing the beauty of a wonderful flower or friendly butterfly that is visiting my garden. I highly recommend you take pictures of your garden and garden visitors. It will make your efforts so much more rewarding.



Zebra Longwing on Lantana. This variety of Lantana ( a mostly deep yellow/orange and growing very tall ) has attracted every butterfly in my garden. I have Purple Weeping Lantana, Yellow Lantana, and a Pale Yellow Lantana all low growing, that has attracted only a few.



Thunbergia ( King's Mantle ) Only small Blues are attracted to this beautiful flowered plant. The blooms are not suitable to a butterflies probicious. Not even hummingbirds visit this inviting looking flower.



My butterfly rearing house. These are monarch pupae.


Purple Passionflower ( Maypop ). A beautiful flower but it's the foilage that is the real attractor for it is the larval food for the Zebra Longwings and the Gulf Frittilaries.



This is one of my fence lines. My style of gardening is to let things grow together. In the forefront are red pentas, the middle is a tall lantana, and mixed within are tropical passion vine, crossandra, spanish needles, mallow, impatiens, and many other plants that do and do not attract butterflies. My garden is probably 40% butterfly plants.



This is Jatropha. It is a tropical looking ornamental tree. The Zebra Longwings love the nectar of the clusters of red flowers that bloom abundantly



This is a Tropical Passionflower, a beautiful passionflower but do not offer this to your butterflies as the larvae will not be able to nourish on these.



Buddleia also is known as "Butterfly Bush". ( There are many plants known as "Butterfly Bush!" ) It comes in a variety of colors. My bush has taken a couple of years to become a good producer of blooms and noticed by the butterflies. Very Fragrant. The white flower to the right of it is "Cat Whiskers".



Monarch catepillars feeding on Milkweed leaves in the rearing house.



Plumbago Frequented by Blues but really not much else.



Penta red, of course. The blue flowers are "Butterfly Bush", named only because the little flowers look like butterflies. The plant does not attract butterflies that I've noticed!
See close up of one of these little "butterflies".



Another look at Jatropha. It's no wonder the Zebra Longwings love them so! Multi-flower blooms seem to be the best attractors. Notice that Penta, Lantana, and Buddelia, are all multi-flowered.



This variety/color of Lantana is a real butterfly charmer!


Impatien not a very good attractor but will be visited now and then.




Spanish Needles a weed that can be a bit of a problem because it reproduces so easily and it's needles attach themselves to your clothing as you rub against them. The butterflies do love them so I sacrafice!


A Gulf Frittilary visiting that popular Lantana bush.






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Copyright: 2002 - All pictures are the property of: Debbie K. Rhodes. Please do not use these pictures without written permission. Thank you.