Rabbit Hill Gardens Herb Farm

Central Florida
BUTTERFLY
GARDENING
GUIDE

Click here for a list of our favorite BUTTERFLY HOST/LARVAL PLANTS and the butterflies they are hosts for.

Click here for a list of our favorite BUTTERFLY NECTAR PLANTS.

Click here for our favorite BOOKS ON BUTTERFLY GARDENING IN FLORIDA.

NEW!!  We currently have several videos available for rent in our shop 
(in VHS only, sorry no DVD):
Your Florida Guide to Butterfly Gardening produced by Univ of FL
Audubon Society's Butterfly Gardening
Audubon Society's Butterflies for Beginners
and
Attracting Butterflies to your Backyard

     Most butterflies like lots of sun and so do the butterflies themselves. Butterflies need to be warm for them to fly which is why you will find many more butterflies in your garden on sunny days than on overcast ones. Butterflies lay more eggs and caterpillars grow much faster with plenty of sunlight.

     Areas that provide windbreaks or hedges protect your butterflies from strong winds that can cause them to expend a lot of energy. These shelter areas also provide protection from storms, temperature extremes and predators.

     Many butterflies also take part in an activity called 'puddling". Males particularly like to soak up water from very shallow damp areas in sand or soil and obtain minerals, especially sodium, in this way. A pan or pot saucer filled with sand and kept damp can be a welcome addition to your butterfly garden.

Frequently Asked Questions

     Can I really attract butterflies to my garden?  Absolutely!  Female butterflies will especially be drawn from some distances by host/larval plants. These females will attract males. And both will stay to feed on your nectar plants. On a sunny summer day, we have counted as many as 8 different species in a 15 minute span.

    Won't the caterpillars kill my host/larval plants?  Rarely. Although caterpillars can quickly defoliate a plant, the plants nearly always send out new growth and recover.

    Do butterfly gardens need a lot of special care?  Actually, many of the best butterfly plants are native plants (after all, these are the plants native butterflies have been using for a long time). And native plants are generally easier to care for.

     How long do butterflies live? Most eggs hatch in 4-7 days, although at certain times of the year, butterflies will over-winter in this stage. Caterpillars grow quickly and in the right conditions go through this stage in about two weeks.  The amazing changes that take place in the chrysalis take about 7-10 days, although again, some butterflies can over-winter in this stage. Finally, most adults live several weeks although some like Monarchs can live as long as nine months.

     Do butterflies use those butterfly houses?  Well, no not really. They are meant to be hibernation houses. Butterflies in this area don't hibernate and even in areas where they do, they don't really make use of houses like birds do. The houses make a cute decorative item in the garden, however, and sort of say "this is a butterfly garden".