If you like butterflies, than planting both plants that host the larvae and feed the butterflies are important. These are some of the flowering herbaceous plants (and one vine) suitable for planting in the southeast for the butterflies that we have here.
Flowering plants that are host to larvae of the butterfly
| Common Name | Scientific Name | Butterfly |
|---|---|---|
| Clover | Trifolium arvense | Clouded sulphur, eastern tail blue |
| Dill | Anethum graveolens | Black swallowtail |
| Fennel | Foeniculum vulgare | Black swallowtail |
| Mallows | Hibiscus spp. | Gray hairstreak |
| Milkweed | Asclepias spp. | Monarch butterfly |
| Queen Anne's Lace | Daucus carota | Black swallowtail |
| Smartweed | Polygonum spp. | Purplish copper |
| Snapdragons | Antirrhinum spp. | Buckeye |
| Purple passionflower (vine) | Passiflora incarnata | Gulf fritillary |
Flowering plants that provide nectar for butterflies
| Common Name | Scientific Name | Native Plant |
|---|---|---|
| Aster | Aster spp. | Yes |
| Azaleas | Rhododendron spp. | No |
| Bee balm | Monarda spp. | Yes |
| Black-eyed Susan | Rudbeckia spp. | Yes |
| Blazing star, Prairie blazin star | Liatris spp. | Yes |
| Butterfly bush | Buddleja spp. | No |
| Butterfly Weed | Asclepias spp. | Yes |
| Cardinal flower | Lobelia cardinalis | Yes |
| Clover | Trifoloium arvense | Yes |
| Coreopsis | Coreopsis spp. | Yes |
| Philadelphia fleabane, daisy fleabane | Erigeron annuus, Erigon philadelphicus | Yes |
| Goldenrod | Solidago odora | Yes |
| Indian blanket | Gaillardia pulchella | Yes |
| Joe-pye weed, trumpetweed | Eupatoriadelphus spp. | Yes |
| Lantana | Lantana spp. | No |
| Pentas | Pentas spp. | No |
| Phlox | Phlox spp. | Yes and no |
| Purple coneflower | Echinacea purpurea | Yes |
| Red Texas star | Ipomopsis rubra | Yes |
| Yarrow | Achillea spp. | Yes |
| Zinnias | Zinnia spp. | No |
This gulf fritillary butterfly emerged from a cocoon in my yard in 2015. I had planted purple passionflower, one of the host plants for the caterpillar. Several gulf fritillaries hatched that year.
Larvae on Host Plants
The year that my garden was full of milkweed plants, I had several monarch butterfly caterpillars and several butterflies hatched.
