Discover the Fun of Gardening

October 11, 2012   

Learn all about the butterfly life cycle at this Saturday's workshop.

Blooming cassia, flowering milkweed, it's not just fall in the garden, it's a fall garden made for butterflies. We are so lucky in Florida that our milder fall season keeps butterflies around. So make sure that your butterflies are well fed with beautiful flowers. While you are feeding the butterflies you can also create a lovely fall garden.

Happy Gardening,
Kim, Joey and Mark
 

In This Issue
Featured Plant

Bring on the Butterflies

Upcoming Events
Workshop: Sat. Oct 13th at 10am on Butterfly Gardening
 

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Fall Blooming Cassia $14.99 10" Pot

 Featured Plant
Fall Blooming Cassia
Senna bicapsularis
 
These amazing flowers usher in the autumn season with blazing gold color. But that isn't the best thing about the cassia. It is the host plant for the quick-flying sulphur butterfly. It can be grown as a large shrub or small tree, and is typically seen six to ten feet tall. It is a beautiful centerpiece for a butterfly garden.

Butterfly Gardening

It's easy to attract butterflies to your garden. For the basics, check out our butterfly handout and learn about some of the best plants for butterflies, and see below for all of the cool butterflies that you might see fluttering about in your garden. Don't miss this Saturday's workshop either!

Monarch - The monarch butterfly is one of the most common butterflies in our area. The host plant for these butterflies is milkweed, so make sure that you include it in your butterfly garden. Did you know that monarch butterflies migrate all the way to Mexico in the winter?

 
Swallowtail - There are lots of different swallowtail butterflies, including the black swallowtail which lays its eggs on the herbs dill, fennel, rue and parsley, the pipevine and polydamus swallowtails which use dutchman's pipevine to lay their eggs and the giant swallowtail which lays its eggs on citrus. These butterflies come in many different mixes of black and yellow and are some of the most beautiful.

Sulphurs - A fast-flying yellow butterfly, there are many different types of sulphurs. Some are pale yellow and some like the orange-barred sulphur have beautiful orange colors in their wings. These butterflies lay their eggs on plants in the senna and cassia family. These large shrubs or small trees can make a great centerpiece in a butterfly garden.

Zebra Longwing - The state butterfly of Florida, this cool butterfly hangs out in shady areas under trees or large shrubs. You won't see it flying out in the hot sun too much. It lays its eggs on passionvine planted in the shade.

Gulf Fritillary - Another speedy little butterfly that is orange with white speckling. This butterfly flutters fast and high in sunny areas and lays its eggs on passion vine planted in the sun.


These are the most common butterflies in our area, but they aren't the only ones. There are actually hundreds of butterflies that call our area home. How many do you have in your butterfly garden?

Upcoming Events

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