UF/IFAS Okeechobee County Extension

Okeechobee, FL 34972-2578

Phone: (863) 763-6469

E- mail: edayen@ufl.edu 

July 25, 2006

Feature Article - for immediate release.

Ed Ayen , Florida Yards & Neighborhood

 

Turn Lawn into a Butterfly Garden

This is another in a series of articles written about the new area urban conservation program called Florida Yards & Neighborhoods. 

I recently had the privilege of attending the grand opening of Arnold’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center’s new butterfly garden.  Arnolds is a nonprofit organization about 10 miles north of Okeechobee dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating injured and sick wildlife.  Sue Arnold and her group of volunteers have created a beautiful garden stocked with native plants to attract butterflies; which leads me to the idea of replacing some of that grass area in the yard with native shrubs suitable for butterflies.  

Native plants are the best way to attract the greatest number of local, native butterfly species.  Most species have favorite plants to use for nectar and specific larval plants for food.  Butterflies need larval, nectar and cover plants to complete their life cycle.  Larval plants provide food for the caterpillars and nectar plants provide food for the butterflies.  Cover trees and shrubs are also needed for protection from predators and as a base for the chrysalis stage. 

The best way to get your butterfly garden started is to begin with several plants that make a good foundation.  They should include a few larval plants such as Butterfly Weed, Cassia and Passion Vine and nectar plants such as Firebush, Porterweed and Wild Coffee.  Good cover shrubs/trees are saw palmettos, citrus, oaks, and hollies. 

The Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a two foot tall perennial which has orange flowers from spring to fall.   It not only provides nectar but also is a food plant for Monarch and Queen larvae.  A larval food plant for various Sulphur   butterflies is the Bahama Cassia (Senna mexicana var. Chapmanii), which is a two foot tall shrub with showy yellow flowers in the fall and winter.  The native Passion Flower recommended is also called the Maypop (Passiflora incarnate) and is a vine which has bluish-purple flowers all year long.  It is a larval food source for the Zebra Longwing, Gulf Fritillary, Julia and Variegated Fritillary.  

A good nectar source for many butterflies is the Firebush (Hamelia patens).  It is a very drought tolerant  three to ten foot tall shrub with orange-red flowers year round.  Porterweed (Stachytarpheta spp.) is a two to five foot tall nectar shrub with year round variably colored flowers. The Wild Coffee (Psychotria nervosa) nectar shrub grows to five foot tall and has glossy green leaves and white flowers in spring and summer. 

For further information on installing a beautiful butterfly garden contact you local county extension service office.  If you are interested in having a Florida Friendly Yard please contact Ed Ayen at the Highlands County Extension Service office. Phone: (863)402-6540 or email: edayen@ufl.edu . His office location is 4509 George Blvd. in  Sebring, FL 33875-5837.

The Florida Yards and Neighborhoods program is being implemented through your local county extension service in Highlands, Okeechobee and Glades County and is partially funded from Clean Water Act Section 319 funding from the U. S. EPA through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 

More information is available on  the Okeechobee web page,  http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu.  If you need additional information on Florida Friendly Yards, please email us at okeechobee@ifas.ufl.edu or call us at 863-763-6469.  Local residents can stop by our office at 458 Hwy 98 North in Okeechobee, and visit our Okeechobee County Master Gardeners from 1 to 5 PM on Tuesday afternoons.  

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