Gardening for Butterflies - Taffy's Tips

We feel bad for those of you who weren't able to attend Taffy Herridge's terrific presentation on "Gardening for Butterflies" last Saturday at The  Arboretum.  Here's a little of the information she shared.

South Texas Butterfly Gardening Tips
1. Start your garden with proven nectar-rich flowering plants.
2. Plant the larval foods (the ones the caterpillars munch on) for those butterflies you wish to keep.
3. Use native varieties, if possible - varieties from other localities are second-best.
4. Never use insecticides.   Deter pests with biological agents or sticky traps.
5. Avoid artificial fertilizer.   Use organic fertilizers or compost.
6. Never use herbicides.  Weed your garden by hand.
7. Provide a watering hole to allow mud-puddling of the butterflies.
8. Arrange to have shelter from the wind.
9. Use a sunny spot.  Plants produce more nectar in the sun.
10. Place some large rocks around for the butterflies to sun themselves on.
11. Plants started from March through th esummer will need sufficient mulch to prevent water loss.
12. Don't trim shrubs after August 1st.  Trimming later cuts down on blooms and you could haul off chrysalis.

The following plants will furnish larval food and nectar for the adults all year round.

Nectar Sources for Butterflies
Buddleia                    Lippia                      Turk's Cap
Verbena                    Penta                        Mistflower
Sunflower                 Kidneywood             White Brush
Frogfruit                   Milkweed                 Goldenrod
Indian Blanket          Pavonia                     Baby Bonnets
Abutilon                   Plumbago                  Salvia
Sweet Stem             Lantana                     Pyramid Bush
Scarlet Sage            Duranta                     Zinnias

Host Plants for Caterpillars
Butterfly (Caterpillar) - Host Plant
Pipevine Swallowtail - Pipevine
Giant Swallowtail - Colima, Amyris, Barreta
Checkered White - Mustards
Southern Dogface - Amorpha, Dalea
Large Orange Sulpher - Texas Ebony
Lyside Sulpher - Guayacan
Little Yellow - Cassia
Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak - Sida, Abutilon, Hibiscus
Western Pygmy Blue - Saltbush, Pigweed

Reakirt's Blue - Kidneywood, Mesquite

American Snout - Granjeno

Gulf Fritillary, Julia, Zebra - Passionvines

Bordered Patch - Sunflower, Mistflower

Texan Crescent - Ruellia

Red Admiral - Nettles

White Peacock - Lippia, Ruellia, Frogfruit

Tropical Leafwing - Crotons

Tawny Emperor - Sugar Hackberry

Monarch, Queen, Soldier - Milkweed

Whitepatch Skipper - Manzanita

Frogfruit

Taffy's Favorite Butterfly Plants

Common Name / Scientific Name / Host / Bloom period

Blue Mistflower / Eupatorium odoratum / Rounded Metalmark / Oct-Nov

Betony Mistflower / Eupatorium betonififiolium / Rounded Metalmark / Spring-Fall

Texas Lantana / Lantana horrida / _____/ Spring - Fall

Desert Lantana / Lantana macropoda / Gray Hairstreek / Most times

West Indies Lantana / Lantana camara / __ / Most times

Mexican Butterfly Weed /  __ / Monarch, Queen, Soldier / Most times

Passion Vine / Passiflora foetida / Gulf Fritillary / Spring - Fall

Corky Passionflower / Passiflora suberosa / Zebra, Julia Heloconia / Fall

Heliotrope / Heliotrope / Adult Nectar Plant

Texas Frogfruit / Phyla incisa / White Peacock, Phaon Crescent/ Spring - Fall

March Fleabana / Pluchea dorata / Nectar Plant / Summer

Fennel & Rue / __ / Black Swallowtail /

Candlestick Tree / Cassia alata / Most Sulphers / 

Interesting Butterfly Links

North American Butterfly Association (NABA)

Valley Nature Center

David & Jan Dauphin

Butterfly Festival, Mission, Texas   October 22-24, 2009