Try this document out for size:

http://biospherenursery.com/pdf/birdsandbutterfliesbrochure2006.pdf

Gary

Here is a link that might be useful: Biosphere link

One of my favorite hummingbird plants is firespike. It is blooming now, when not much else bloom and has a long blooming time. Though it's probably not native.

heres a good link for native gardening

I would recommend the firebush because it's used by both butterflies and birds. plumbago also is a good looking plant that is a host for a tiny butterfly. Although if you want curb appeal, you may want to stay away from most host plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Native Gardening

Lots of butterfly plants are weedy by nature. I think it helps to create a good solid structure of evergreens and mostly evergreens first. If you want to go strictly native you can use things like saw palmettos, coonties, dwarf ilexes, and many larger shrubs (native viburnums, stoppers, etc.) Shiny blue berries are good bird plants and also evergreen.

Native red bay, hercules club, native sennas,wild lime, paw paws, maypop (passion vine)are all larval plants, mostly evergreen, but mine never get so chewed up they look bad.

Native grasses too can add structure, and the seeds will feed the birds.

And there are lots of native wildflowers that look good most or all of the year. Things like Indian Paintbrush and deer tongue only flower in the fall, but they have evergreen rosettes. Iron weed and golden rod usually have relatively short flowering time but are nice structured plants, growing much of the year.

I would be tempted to put some long blooming Florida friendly exotics like pentas, Mexican Flame vine, so the butteflies will always have nectar.

Bill

My favorite native is golden dew drop. But I've found there are good ones and bad ones. I have one of each, and cuttings of the bad one come up bad, so I'm sure it's not the conditions.

The bad ones get a worm in the seed and don't flower much at all. The good ones don't get the worm, even when planted near the bad ones.

I wish I knew more about this, but my good one is a joy, sprays of lovely purple flowers, pretty light green leaves. And they're hardy as can be. My good one was mowed down two years ago, and it's six feet high now.

My bad one is coming out soon.

You can use the attached link to research some of the recommendations.

My suggestions ...

Ground Covers:
Sunshine Mimosa - Mimosa strigillosa -
Blue Porterweed - Stachytarpheta jamaicensis - groundcover, gets ratty in winter

Ornamental Grasses:
Elliott's Lovegrass - Eragrostis elliottii
Muhlygrass - Muhlenbergia capillaris
Dwarf Fakahatchee Grass - Tripsacum floridanum

Wildflowers:
Tickseed - Coreopsis leavenworthii - the state wildflower, not drought tolerant, prolific flowers if watered
Blanket Flower - Gaillardia pulchella - prolific blooms most of the year, annual, self propagates like crazy
Blackeyed Susan - Rudbeckia hirta
Tropical Sage - Salvia coccinea - larger 2+', self propagates
Wood Sage - Teucrium canadense - sends up 1' - 2' stalks, white flowers in summer, spreads by runners, not drought tolerant, use to fill between plants, will need to thin out to keep from overwhelming other plants

Flowering Shrubs:
Milkweed - Asclepias tuberosa - Monarch host - but will often be stripped of leaves
Wild Lantana - Lantana involucrata - small to medium compact shrub, well behaved compared to the invasive tri-color variety
Dotted Horsemint - Monarda punctata - medium shrub, striking flowers in late summer
Rosinweed - Silphium asteriscus - butt ugly plant that sends up 4' high stalks with sunflower like blooms all year long - might be appropriate to create a layered look behind small flowering plants

Medium Shrubs:
Beautyberry - Callicarpa americana - purple berries
Firebush - Hamelia patens - attractive bush with red tinged leaves and red flowers
Wild coffee - Psychotria nervosa - lush green
Rouge Plant - Rivina humilis - red small berries much of year - needs shade

Large Shrubs / Small Trees:
Spanish Stopper - Eugenia foetida - or any stopper
Florida Privet - Forestiera segregata -
Privet Cassia/Senna - Senna ligustrina - yellow flowers
Walter's viburnum - Viburnum obovatum - will form a thicket if allowed - dwarf variety is small shrub (3-4')

Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Native Plant Society - What to Grow

After we moved in last year, we ripped out our ugly overgrown shrubs in front of the house and planted a butterfly garden with mostly natives and Fla. friendly plants. It may not look like a typical 'landscaped' front planting area, but we have gotten many complements and it will fill out in time - in fact it's filled out alot already since we planted in March. I used many of the plants that are listed above. I took a few months to research the different plants and came up with a color scheme and visited a few nurseries, took some cuttings from friends and family and started some seeds. I think you will get alot of joy out of the one you are planning, and so will the wildlife!

Lisa B

Be careful with firebush. There is a "dwarf" variety that is sold at the big box stores sometimes. There has been some discussion of it here before. The feeling is, it's not native, but actually an African version. It has red and yellow flowers (though I've been told there are natives that do too.)

Anyway, the dwarf refers to the size of its leaves, not its actual size, and the tag on it that says it will make a pretty mound about two feet by two feet lies. I finally had to take one out after being unable to prune it often enough to keep it five feet wide. Mine did not have the red-tinged leaves I've seen on the native either.

I have been wondering about the 'firebush' i have seen in the stores and in some gardens/yards. It doesn't look like mine, which started from cuttings from my MIL's bush, and I don't think mine gets berries either, and the ones N&V is talking about do...I have been saying I think mine is native and the others aren't...now I feel justified in my thinking. But even mine will probably get very big. My MIL's can get over 6 feet tall and maybe 4 feet wide. Huge. But the hummers love it and everything else, so if you plan for it in the right spot it is beautiful.

Here are some pics of mine...

In May, when first planted:

September (I had added some more throughout the year:

Nice pictures.

Below is a link to one of the native nurseries in my area with pictures of a few landscaping projects they've done. The pics might give you some ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wilcox Photo Galleries

What great information! Thanks to everyone for providing some direction in gettting this native garden going! Time to hit the nursery!

Jane

david2267
that is a fantastic website! the before and after photos are really great, probably the best I've seen.
They're in Largo (yay West Coast) and will go on my "to visit" list to look for good natives to add to my yard.
thanks for posting it.

flanative
nice upgrade to your landscape! do you irrigate or go xeriscape (rainfall only)?

Denise

Thanks D&D. Denise I pretty much let rain do the job, unless it's been over a month between rains, and even then only when the plants are looking like they need it. The two plants in there that I throw water on a little more often are the Gardenia (which was a present from a friend, who told me where she wanted me to put it - the nerve!LOL but she is a good friend so I humored her...) and the Mussaednda, which requires the same stuff as the Gardenia so I figured it'd be ok in front of it. So when the dogs' water needs changing I open up the front door and throw the old water out onto those two plants, or when I use a cooler for groceries when I'm running around on my monthly trek to WFM and in-town stores, I'll dump the ice in that general area, and that's pretty much all the extra water I give them, because I wanted that area to be pretty self sufficient. I am rain barrel crazed though, so I am trying to figure out how to put one out there without it being very visible - I think I have to wait till the plants get a little bigger and then I can hide it behind one.

My butterfly garden is in the front of the house. I have firebrush, giant and reg milkweed, 2 kinds of cassia, porterweed and more. I should try to keep it under controlmore I guess but the hummers love the purple firespike and the butterflies always abound.

Speaking of Firebush.... I planted Firebush in my yard 2 years ago and is now about 6 foot high. I love it, if you plant it, give it room. Grows fast and wide. There is always something by the firebush, birds, butterflies variety of other insects. I think it is the local bar for the critters in the yard. :)

I also planted the dwarf variety. And as a previous poster said, it grows differently from what I noticed. First the leaves are small (2-3 inches long), shiney and for the most part green. I have been told that the dwarf is a hybrid species. Of what, I do not know. It has kept itself before 3 foot, but I think the dwarf name relates to its leaves and not its height.

The native firebush is a beautiful plant, but the dwarf has its place. Maybe consider some cocoplum, it's native, my dog loves to eat them!

Milkweed for sure! Just make sure you surround it with other plants, do not make it a focal point. The monarchs caterpillars will strip it of its leaves. So plant allot of them. Once you see monarchs buzzing around, you'll know they came from your yard.