Michael,

I know that sweet alyssum is a pretty common find in the big box stores that will does well in Florida winters and does reseed. It's not very tall but I think that butterflies and bees would love them. Also, you might try snapdragons and nasturtium. Both will do well in cooler weather and do produce seed.

Rhonda

Yeah, I had to order nasturtium through an online source. None of my big box stores had seeds in stock and it was bugging me. Twice I have tried starting them in early spring, but they never last long enough to really establish themselves. After looking at the Butterfly Garden at Leu's though, I realized I can probably start them even earlier and they should go pretty much unscathed through winter, barring any really hard frosts. I picked up snapdragon seeds and broadcast sowed them in my beds and I think they are starting to come up now. I also ordered some specific snapdragon types through the same online source a couple weeks ago and set those seeds into flats, but none have come up yet. Either way, though, I don't think Snapdragons really reseed themselves.

Thank you for your input though.

My Pansies, Johnny Jump-Ups and Dianthus did reseed some but not prolifically. I just planted some seeds yesterday, Pansies, Johnny Jump-ups, Forget-Me-Nots and Petunias. I'm also trying some Sweet Peas. I still have the Dianthus from last year, a little ragged but looking pretty good considering they don't like the heat.

Michael,

As I was taking pics outside this evening (see my post in the butterfly forum) I thought of another plant you might want to try...obedient plant. Mine really starts coming into its prime in late November, early December and will bloom all winter minus a hard freeze. It returns every year, spreads by seed and runners but is very easy to pull out if needed. For me, it only gets 12"-18" high but that's because it's planted in almost pure sand.

Rhonda

Michael

Here's the link to pics I took of a carpenter bee enjoying the obedient plant.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4310374/not-a-butterfly-but-its-enjoying-the-physostegia-virginiana?n=3

I was going to pull up my marigolds, then I saw my little longtail skipper lunching on them. That and the milkweed are the only things keeping my babies alive right now.

My allysum, cosmos, zinnias, gallardias, plus a slew of native wildflowers readily reseed themselves here.

Michael, I hope your flowers don't freeze. That would be tragic.

Calendulas and Nigella reseed abundantly here.