New House in FL

8 years ago

Hi there,

My family is going to be purchasing a house in Venice FL this year, where i am going to go and live next June, I was wondering what are some of the plants that do well in Florida for pollinators, im used to Minnesota where we are frozen for 9 months then highs 90s for the other 3 months. Just curious as to what are the best plants to buy for mostly butterflies.

Thanks

Featured Answer

(Jay/Jax FL/Zone 9a)

8 years ago

Porterweed is #1 for nectar

Most places now sell Tropical Milkweed, this is good for nectar and caterpillars (get at least 3) and is easy and goes well in the back of a bed. There is a red&yellow and a golden yellow form, both are attractive to butterflies so it is your preference.

Get a trellis and grow Passionflower (best species for your spot is probably Passiflora suberosa aka 'Corkystem passionflower', Passiflora incarnata aka 'Maypop' is native to your area too but you need to get a local one... a more northern-grown one might not be adapted). These like partial sun in my experience so they are good up against a wall. Passionflower is the host for the state butterfly of FL, the Zebra longwing as well as Julia and Gulf Fritillary butterflies which are all large, showy species. Avoid some of the non-native kinds, some are poisonous to our butterflies like the red-flowering kind I see people sell.

Zinnias are cheap and easy from seed, any decent-sized kind that is single or semi-double will attract butterflies.

Winter Cassia and Privet Cassia (native) are host plants for sulphur butterflies and have large attractive yellow flowers. these are bushes to small trees.

Last plant I consider a must is Firebush. There are many varieties sold. The Florida native kind has Red-orange, not golden orange flowers. These sometimes die back, sometimes not. All of them get large but are easy to maintain and bloom constantly and require no water or fertilizer.

Some other favorite nectar plants are "old-school" (not puny) Pentas, lantana montevidensis (avoid Lantana camara in your area), Salvia coccinea (also easy from seed with white, pink, and red forms), Verbena, and Heliotrope (afternoon shade). Firespike and Pineapple sage and other hummingbird plants are loved by Sulphur butterflies. I grow Purple coneflower in 9a/b in Northeast FL but I don't think it'd work further south.

Oh also a lot of weeds are hostplants for a variety of species so consider leaving a few such as Cudweed [American painted lady], Turkey tangle fogfruit[White Peacock, Common buckeye], and Florida pellitory[Red Admiral].

And of course, no pesticides should be used. If you mow your lawn slightly taller +irrigate it, it should not get pest issues as most grass in FL is a native species (St. Augustinegrass) which is found in moist flatwoods here. They need to be babied with water but not chemicals. My lawn is chemical-free and is the best on my street.

Best of luck and hope that helps :)

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Comments (8)

MissSherry
8 years ago
I looked up Venice, FL to know its location, Jacob, which, as you know is in Sarasota County. There are too many plants to list, so I'd recommend you get the book, Florida Butterfly Gardening by Minno & Minno - it has everything you would need or want to know about planting for butterflies.

Congrats on the house!

Sherry
Jacob Berg
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks Sherry!! It looks like an awesome book. Im excited. It should have a lot of new species for me.
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irma_stpete_10a
8 years ago
Join us on the Florida Gardening GW forum! Wealth of info there. Also, research the GW archives.

I live maybe a half zone above Venice. My #1 butterfly attractor is Porterweed
(not the native ground cover type, but the erect, bush type). Gulf Fritillaries especially like its purple tiny blossoms. In January/February the leaves and blooms turn black, but a hard trim in March brings it right back and blooming. Happy in sand and with nature's watering. Mine appear as volunteers - hardy seed dispersal. Mine grow to 5 feet and after a few years suddenly break off near the roots. Meanwhile others have seeded and grown nearby.
Tom
8 years ago
Jacob, there are some good suggestions above. Two that I would emphasize would be the large red penta lanceolata, and the large purple porterweed (Stachytarpheta frantzii). These two are probably the two best nectar plants for butterflies in Florida. They are perennials where you will live. Maybe the best annual would be the Tithonia or Mexican Sunflower.

Tropicla milkweed is a must, as are different passionflowers. You will need to check to see what is the best pipevine for that area. Casias are a must for sulphurs; there are several different ones that will work for you. If you have room a wild lime tree (Zanthoxylum fagara) is excellent for Giants.
Jacob Berg
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you guys!!! I live in Minnesota and its quite a change im expecting. I have never heard of Lantana montevidensis but looked it up, I am curious as to why the what I consider normal lantana camara.
Tom
8 years ago
There are several kinds of lantana camara that are invasive here. I find that if one lives in a highly populated area invasive plants don't have much opportunity to spread.
(Jay/Jax FL/Zone 9a)
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
It's less invasive than L camara it also is easy to tuck into beds since it's a trailing plant (think nasturtium if you've seen those before). The Bloomify series of L. camara are certified sterile and I think have been picked up by big companies but I'm not sure if they are super widespread yet.

Another issue with Lantana is that south and central FL have native Lantana that hybridizes with the exotic ones, threatening the species. This is especially true of L. depressa. I grow modern less invasive dwarf lantana camara but if I lived further south I would not.