If you want to attract native hummers and butterflies, you can try pineapple sage, California fuschia, native milkweed, coreopsis, or other plants that are easier to find. Tithonia is good for attracting butterflies as well.

I have a lot of aloes, and they are good for attracting hummers, as you say, and bloom mainly in the winter. I've had lantana in the past, which was good for butterflies, but it never looked that healthy. I had salvia before also, but it does not like my soil, which has poor drainage, as it is very hard clay.

Thanks for the lists of other options - I will look for them as well, especially the pineapple sage and the Butterfly bush. I used to have a fuschia plant also and might want to replace that. I prefer a plant that will get fairly tall, which is why I was interested in the Red Porterweed, but I also want something that will not be too invasive, so that I can plant it in the ground, and it has to tolerate my bad soil.

What about Senecio confusus (Mexican Flame Vine, Orange Glow Vine)? I was able to find seeds on line for that, but I'm not sure if they will grow or if it is legal to bring them into California.

I ran across this site, Almost Eden, when I was searching for a local source for hamelia patens - a great hummingbird plant. They also have other hummingbird and butterfly plants. Shipping charges are steep, so I haven't ordered. Now I'm leaning towards trying to propagate from the hamelia I already have, purchased years ago at a flea market.

Porterweed There's also Senecio confusus available.

Senecio confuses is frequently seen at Green Thumb or The Plant Depot in South OC; they even show up at the big box stores occasionally. So I would try to locate them locally, or ask if they can be ordered for you, before going the expensive mail order route. I have had them sprout a few seedling volunteers under my existing vine, so I do not believe they are difficult to propagate from seed. The volunteer numbers was low enough to not be a control concern in my garden though (YMMV).

Be careful before sticking salvias in the ground--many species spread by runners (Pineapple sage is one that does). California fuchsia is also a plant to not use without prior consideration to the seed and runner spread. The seeds fly using the method commonly seen with milkweeds. In clay soils, you would have to be extra careful about watering, too.

Saliva discolor blooms year round in my garden, doesn't spread by runners, reseeds just a bit, and the hummers are mad for it. It gets about 5'x5'. Russelia equisetiformis, hummers go nuts for that one, too.

I've seen Mexican flame vine at Village Nurseries. It's not too hard to find.

Village Nurseries is only in O.C., I think (or mainly), but I will check locally to see what is available.

Does anyone know what this is:

:) At first I thought you wanted to know the id of the butterflies! The plant is pentas. (Your butterflies appear to be Polydamas Swallowtail and postman.)

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hoobv, russellia is one of the top, if not the favorite, hummingbird plants in my garden, too. But they seem to completely ignore the two Salvia discolor. I cannot figure out why; other growers have said hummers like it a lot. The plants are thriving and in different areas of the garden. Our resident hummers run about 75% Allens and 25% Annas. Do you have a different species that frequent your plants? S. discolor is an interesting salvia and tough and easy to grow, but I wished the my hummingbirds appreciated the flowers more.

Thanks for the plant ID - that is what I was looking for! I will look for russellia also. My resident hummers are also about 75% Allens and 25% Annas, but I seem to get mostly male Allens and female Annas. The Annas occasionally swarm in from across the street, where the neighbors have a bottlebrush tree that they like. I have three feeders for the hummers, and so I am more interested in flowers for butterflies. A lot of them flit through without stopping at the flowers very much.

It looks like International Garden Center in El Segundo will have the Russellia.

I didn't have much luck growing russellia in Venice. Exposure says sun or shade, but perhaps this close to the beach more sun is required than I had available. I never saw a hummingbird approach either russellia plant. I seem to be in the minority with my experience.

Iochroma, hamelia patens, and abutilon are hummingbird favorites in my yard. Probably the shrubs offer a safer nectar source from the semi-feral cats in the area.

Thanks for the link to International Garden Center -- a little off my regular route, but easy enough to go to on a Sunday.

You are probably right that the russelia might appreciate more sun than your coastal conditions provide. A shame; I love that they are always in bloom for me. I have a 14" Lochroma 'Royal Queen' planted for them to taste eventually, but the darned thing is growing at such a snail's pace I partnered a Callistemon rigidus with it. The winner of the most vigorous shrub award wins the garden spot.

Hamelia--A nemesis plant. Whenever I go to look for it at the nursery, they aren't being offered. Then I plant something else in the spot, and there they are for sale again. They usually are available during the summer, when they would quickly become sun-crisps if I were to plant them then. Maybe a brief holdover period in a pot would allow for planting in cooler weather. I just have to remember to do that.

So many plant options, too little garden space. :)

I'm in Westchester now, having moved here from Venice, and I do get quite a bit more sun now than I used to, even though I am only two miles further from the beach than before, and so the russellia might work okay for me now. I'm closer to El Segundo now, but Armstrong's on Sepulveda is only a few blocks from where I live. I used to shop mostly at the Marina Nursery when I lived in Venice.

I have new basil plants growing from seeds that fell off an old plant that I had allowed to go to seed (Goldfinches love basil seed, as it turns out), and so that must mean that it is fairly warm.

I didn't know that about goldfinches and basil seed. I'm always cutting the basil to within an inch of its life it seems, so flowering hasn't been an occurrence. I need more plants.

Here are some photos of goldfinches on my basil plants, eating basil seeds:

You can see how guilty the finches look.

Well, those appear to be some very happy finches!

I found this Swallowtail caterpillar on my parsley this morning

It would have made a butterfly like this, which I used to see in my yard in Venice.

I found this caterpillar again this morning, and so I brought the pot of parsley inside - there is a lot of light in my studio - it has a skylight, and I put the pot in front of the glass patio doors. Once inside, I found one more caterpillar, and so maybe I will get to raise a butterfly after all.

Lucky you. Where do caterpillars go when not eating?

They stay on the plant when not eating, but closer to the ground. I found two more swallowtail caterpillars on another pot of parsley, and I'm leaving them outside. I'm now thinking of putting the other pot outdoors again, as raising the caterpillars may be more trouble than I expected. I've been told that they will walk off of the plant when they are ready to pupate, which would mean that they could end up in a random part of the house, unless I make a moat for them.

I found this site with info for butterfly gardens. One of my caterpillars crawled off the pot today, and so I put him in a large paper bag to pupate. I was lucky to catch it before it walked very far off. Next, I may build a gizmo for the following caterpillar.