I notice you live in Florida.

Try this link. It lists the butterfly, the plants they are attracted to as adults, and the plants they use as hosts.

Here is a link that might be useful: TheButterflysite.com

cool thanks so much last year i did not see 1 butterfly and i just like how cool they look

Thanks the_seedboy

Be sure to also check out the FAQ page here on this forum! Larry-Gene has worked hard to get things posted for folks to utilize.

One thing to definitely understand is that butterflies are quite 'regional.' What may work in one area may not work well in another. For example, the Lantana is touted as being a great nectar plant. I have found that butterflies here where I live in Southern California are just not interested in it!

I was just going to suggest the FAQ, calSherry! And I like my user name hyphenated--puts me in the same league as Ann-Margaret.

Hi seedboy! My neighbor and I are working hard to plant for the butterflies in our yards here in NW GA. I agree with the others regarding regional preferences. Here, I would say that butterfly bush and lantana are the biggest attractors. My Sulphur butterflies tend to love the petunias and impatiens. Of course, some sort of milkweed (Tropical Milkweed is my fav) is a must for any butterfly garden as far as I am concerned. You would also want to study up on host plants (the plants they lay their eggs on) and plant as many of those as you can. Some easy ones are the milkweeds, fennel, dill, and sennas (cassia). I have a friend in Florida who has really good luck attracting them with Jatropha. Hope that helps. :o)

A better question would be "what flowers don't attract butterflies?" I have never seen butterflies visiting the dandelions that grow in our lawn. Also, we have daisies, and they don't seem to attract butterflies, either.

Zinnias, Anise Hyssop, Butterfly Bush, Tall Verbena (Patagonian type), Petunias and Balsom work well in western Missouri. The Balsom attracts sulphur butterflies, Zinnas attract the swallow tail butterflies and monarchs. Anise Hyssop and Tall Verbena attract Painted Lady butterflies, bees, and other butterflies. The Butterfly bush attracts many types of butterflies. Don't forget Petunias for Hawk Mothes. The seed heads of Dandy Lions sometimes attract Goldfinches.
Mark

What attracts them for nectar purposes is going to vary from location to location, region to region, state to state. For instance, Eric states that he has never seen butterflies on dandelions in Wisconsin. That is a heavy nectar favorite for the Monarchs in my yard when the migration north begins and there are few plants blooming around here at that time--still trying to add some spring bloomers.

Later on, of course, the sure nectaring plants for me are Verbena bonariensis, Mexican Sunflower, Cosmos sulphureous 'Cosmic Orange', Lantana 'Miss Huff', and even later, Asters and Blue mistflower.

But, I am in Oklahoma, so it may be different for you. I hope that some of our Florida butterfliers will pop in here with suggestions for you.

Susan

thank you so much i am googleing on it to see what kind of butterflies come to fl

These are all good suggestions, but also don't forget to plant host plants for the caterpillars so that they'll stick around longer.

Good Luck

Hi the_seedboy. Here is a helpful site: http://www.butterfliesbirdsandblooms.com/article/view.php?id=71