We just bought a house in February and it had an almost butterfly friendly front garden. Problem is she planted ruellia- the invasive kind. It's killed off a bunch of plants and I just hate it, never mind the fact that it doesn't attract anything. So my first question is, aside from digging up as many roots as I can (working on that), how do I kill it?

My second question is, what plants are good for butterfly/wildlife habitats that are low to the ground and can provide some cover?

I have four Florida milkweeds, a giant red hibiscus tree (which is diseased), a beauty berry, firebush, redneck lupine, dwarf blue porterweed, and a ton of different colored pentas that I still need to plant. But all of the plants I have tend to grow tall (and my milkweed is sparse from the cats)... So any ideas?

Thanks to anyone that can help me :)