19 Butterfly Plants Florida That You'll Fall in Love With

Butterfly plants Florida are a delightful addition to any yard or landscape, bringing beauty, pollination benefits, and a sense of wonder to any outdoor space. Creating a butterfly garden requires choosing the best flowers for attracting and sustaining specific butterfly species throughout their life cycles.

Whether you opt for a modest container display or a full-scale garden, the charm and ecological benefits these plants offer make the effort well worth it.

19 Butterfly Plants in Florida to Lure Winged Beauties to Any Garden

1. Mexican Sunflower

Growing Season: Spring, Summer
Leaf Shape: Palmate, Long
Specific Needs: Full sun, Well-drained soil
Common Pests: Spider mites, Caterpillar

Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia diversifolia) are a colorful addition to Florida gardens, especially during spring and summer. The branching plants grow three to four feet tall and produce large, showy yellow and orange flowers that attract butterflies in abundance.

Mexican sunflowers provide an important nectar source for butterflies when many of their preferred native plants are not in bloom. The tubular flowers have an abundance of nectar that monarchs, gulf fritillary, and sulfur butterflies flock to.

To attract the most butterflies, grow Mexican sunflowers in full sun with fertile, well-draining soil. The plant has low water needs once established but grows best with regular watering during hot, dry periods. Mexican sunflowers also require some staking for support as the plant gets taller.

Pruning Mexican sunflowers after the first flush of blooms in spring will encourage a second flush of flowers later in summer. Remove spent blooms to prolong flowering. The plants may self-seed, so deadhead flowers before seeds develop if fewer plants are preferred the following year.

Mexican sunflowers are easy to grow and maintain once established. Besides attracting butterflies, the vibrant flowers add beautiful splashes of color to otherwise dull areas of the landscape during transitional seasons between spring and summer blooms.

For maximum butterfly abundance, pair Mexican sunflowers with other nectar-rich plants and caterpillar host plants like lantana, butterfly bush, passion vines, and milkweeds. The variety of host and nectar plants increases the diversity of butterflies that will visit your garden throughout the season.

2. Butterfly Weed

Growing Season: Spring, Summer
Leaf Shape: Lobed, Broad
Specific Needs: Full sun, Average soil
Common Pests: Japanese beetles, Caterpillar

Asclepias tuberosa, usually known as butterfly weed, is an essential nectar plant for any butterfly garden in Florida. This tough, sun-loving perennial produces clusters of bright orange to reddish-orange flowers from mid-summer through fall. The tubular flowers are a magnet for common butterflies seeking nectar, including monarchs, swallowtails, sulfurs, and many skipper species.

The tuberous roots allow butterfly weed to return year after year in USDA zones five through nine, which cover most of Florida. The root system stores energy to fuel new spring growth and help the plant recover if damaged by frost or drought.

In addition to providing important nectar for butterflies, the leaves, stems, and butterfly weed seed pods serve as host plants for monarch caterpillars. Female monarchs lay their eggs exclusively on Asclepias species, and monarch larvae eat the milkweed leaves.

3. Lantana

Growing Season: Year-round
Leaf Shape: Ovate, Rounded
Specific Needs: Full sun, Well-drained soil
Common Pests: Japanese beetles, Spider mites

Lantana is a versatile Florida native shrub with small colorful flowers that produce nectar year-round, continuously attracting butterflies in Florida gardens. The dark green leaves and rounded habit make it an attractive addition, even when not blooming.

Lantana prefers full sun and well-draining soil. It has low water needs once established but grows best with regular watering during hot, dry periods. Pruning lantana after the initial spring bloom will encourage a flush of new growth and subsequent flowering. Regularly remove spent blooms to prolong blooming.

The colorful flowers of lantana attract a wide variety of butterflies, including monarchs, gulf fritillary, queen, and silver-spotted skippers. The profusion of tiny tubular flowers provides ample nectar for butterflies and other insects. Lantana blooms in a range of colors, including oranges, yellows, reds, and pinks.

Besides attracting abundant butterflies, lantana’s foliage, flowers, and rounded habit provide an ornamental element to the landscape year-round. The dark green leaves offer a nice contrast to the colorful blooms. The dense, twiggy branches stay neatly rounded without much pruning.

When pairing lantana with other butterfly plants in your Florida garden, it provides continuous nectar sources alongside host plants like passion vines, butterflies, and milkweeds. The complement of host and nectar plants maximizes the diversity of butterflies visiting your garden throughout the year.

Lantana is low maintenance once established, requiring only periodic pruning and infrequent fertilizing. Deadheading spent blooms and cutting back overly leggy stems will keep the mounded shape dense. Lantana may also self-seed, particularly in warmer regions.

With its low-care needs, vibrant flowers, continuous butterfly attraction, and year-round ornamental value, lantana is an excellent choice for Florida gardens seeking to nurture local butterflies.

4. Butterfly Bush

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Oval, Long
Specific Needs: Full sun, Well-drained soil
Common Pests: Japanese beetles, Spider mites

Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii) is aptly named for its ability to attract butterflies with its fragrant tubular flowers. The shrubs can grow six to 10 feet tall and produce purple, blue, or white blooms from spring through fall in Florida’s climate.

Butterfly bush prefers full sun and well-draining soil. It has moderate water needs while actively growing but is drought-tolerant once established. Pruning butterfly bushes after the initial spring bloom will encourage a flush of new growth and subsequent flowering. Deadhead blooms regularly to prolong bloom time.

The nectar-rich flowers of butterfly bush attract a wide variety of butterflies, including swallowtails, monarchs, sulfurs, and skippers. The fragrant blooms provide ample nectar and are shaped to perfectly fit the butterflies’ mouthparts. Butterflies flock to the shrubs and can be seen fluttering amongst the branches.

Besides attracting abundant butterflies, the butterfly bush’s fragrant blooms, lush foliage, and vertical form provide ornamental elements to the landscape during warmer months. The shrubs offer height and structure to gardens from spring to fall.

When pairing the butterfly bush with other butterfly plants in your Florida garden, it provides continuous nectar sources alongside host plants like passion vines, lantana, and milkweeds. The complement of host and nectar plants maximizes the diversity of butterflies visiting your garden throughout the season.

Butterfly bush is hard to overwinter in Florida’s mild climate. To reliably have this butterfly attractor in your garden year after year, either grow it as an annual, replacing it each spring, or bring the shrub indoors during winter and replant outside when temperatures warm up in spring.

With its prolific bloom time, impressive height, fragrant flowers, and ability to attract droves of butterflies, the butterfly bush is an excellent choice for Florida butterfly gardens seeking reliable nectar sources from spring through fall.

5. Black-eyed Susan

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Lobed, Small
Specific Needs: Full sun, Average soil
Common Pests: Japanese beetles, Spider mites

The cheery black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) is an ideal butterfly plant for Florida gardens. This sun-loving native grows as a short-lived perennial or annual, reseeding itself each year.

The bright yellow daisy-like flowers, displaying a dark brown or black central “eye” in full bloom, appear from spring through fall. Each flower head provides an important nectar source for butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and other pollinators, attracting various species to the garden.

The lobed green leaves are dotted with hairs, giving the foliage a felty texture. The compact, bushy habit of black-eyed Susan typically gets two or three feet tall and wide, making it a perfect butterfly plant for the front of flower beds and borders. It combines with other perennials, annuals, and shrubs in mixed containers.

This hardy, robust wildflower thrives in full sun and average, well-drained soil. It is tolerant of hot and humid environments once established. Black-eyed Susan spreads readily by self-sowing seeds, ensuring it returns year after year with little attention.

6. Passion Flower Vine

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Palmately, Compound
Specific Needs: Full sun, Average soil
Common Pests: Japanese beetles, Spider mites

The vines of Passiflora incarnata, or maypop passionflower, thrive in Florida’s hot, humid summers, where they produce nectar, shelter, and host plants for caterpillars of Gulf fritillary and zebra longwing butterflies. The unique purple and white blooms appear from spring through fall, attracting not just these two species but also common butterflies and hummingbirds.

Passionflower vines prefer full sun and fertile, well-draining soil. They grow rapidly during Florida’s warm seasons but slow down in winter. Regular watering during hot, dry periods promotes vigorous growth and profuse blooms.

The flowers of passionflower provide abundant nectar for Gulf fritillary and zebra longwing butterfly caterpillars, which rely exclusively on this plant species as a host. Adult butterflies feed on the flower nectar, hovering and darting from bloom to bloom.

Besides attracting hordes of beneficial butterflies and hummingbirds, passionflower vines add visual appeal through their arching stems, lush foliage, and exquisite, fragrant blooms. The unique flowers featuring a star-like pattern in purple and white colors look as delicate as they are hardy.

In your butterfly garden, grow passion flower vines on trellises, arbors, and fences where they can spread out and produce ample nectar for visiting butterflies. Pairing the vines with other butterfly plants like lantana, butterfly bush, and milkweed provides the host plants and continuous nectar sources required to sustain butterflies throughout their life cycle.

With regular watering, monthly applications of liquid fertilizer, and occasional pruning to keep it from overwhelming nearby plants, passionflower vines provide months of visual interest and bountiful resources for butterflies in Florida’s warm climate. The prolific blooms atop the arching stem topping out at 10 to 12 feet high, make them a show-stopping addition to any butterfly or pollinator garden.

7. Butterfly Ginger

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Palmately, Compound
Specific Needs: Partial shade, Rich, moist soil
Common Pests: None

The brilliant orange and red flowers of butterfly ginger, or lateral (Hedychium coronarium), attract common butterflies like swallowtails and sulfurs to Florida gardens during spring and summer. The five to eight feet tall clumps of glossy green leaves spread slowly to form large masses of this wonderful butterfly plant eventually. Partial shade and consistent moisture are key to producing the most flowers for your successful butterfly garden.

8. Firebush

Growing Season: Spring, Summer
Leaf Shape: Elliptical, Oval
Specific Needs: Full sun, Well-drained soil
Common Pests: None

Native to central Florida, fire bush (Hamelia patens) bears bright tubular orange-red flowers from spring through summer that are irresistible to visiting butterflies. The evergreen shrub grows three to six feet tall and wide and features oval green leaves. Firebush is very low maintenance once established, making it a perfect, reliable nectar source for your native butterfly and hummingbird garden.

9. Coral Honeysuckle

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Ovate, Lobed
Specific Needs: Partial shade to full sun, Moist soil
Common Pests: Japanese beetles, Spider mites

With its profuse display of tubular red flowers, coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is an outstanding butterfly plant for Florida gardens. The twining vine can cover fences and trellises or grow as a shrub.

The leaves remain evergreen, and the spring through fall blooms provide an abundance of nectar for attracting butterflies, including swallowtails, sulfurs, and fritillaries. Plant coral honeysuckle to create corridors of nectar-rich vines for visiting insects, and plants attract butterflies.

10. Firecracker Plant

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Elliptical, Oval
Specific Needs: Full sun, Well-drained soil
Common Pests: None

The Firecracker Plant is a captivating tropical shrub known for its brilliant red blooms that evoke exploding fireworks. Native to Mexico and Central America, it thrives year-round in frost-free zones nine to 11 as a tender perennial.

Reaching three to six feet tall and wide, the Firecracker Plant develops a bushy yet mounding form. Deep green leaves are oblong in shape with a waxy texture, clustered densely at branch ends. Their rich foliage provides an exotic backdrop.

From spring through fall, successive clusters of crimson tubular flowers erupt along stems in spiraling, torch-like panicles up to 8 inches long. Resembling mini poufs of erupted flame, each vivid red bloom is approximately half an inch in size. Their concentrated brilliance cannot be missed from afar.

Hummingbirds flock to sip nectar, pollinating as they feed. Brilliant blooms often persist for several months before curling but making seed pods. Deadheading extends the show as new buds form to replace spent blooms throughout the growing period.

Thriving with habitat-replicating conditions of warmth, bright light and consistent moisture, the Firecracker Plant establishes quickly in garden beds, containers or hanging baskets on a patio or deck. Its dense, compact nature suits smaller spaces well.

Ideal for adding tropical verve to gardens year-round in suitable warm climates, Firecracker Plants pair beautifully beside pools, patios or walkways to welcome. Low-maintenance once established, they offer a carefree show with little water or fertilizer needed.

Beyond sheer beauty, these shrubs attract hummingbirds and butterflies with abundant nectar rewards. Their flaming blooms lift spirits, perfect for brightening any landscape landscape with bursts of fiery cheer. A favorite amplified by mild winters permitting near-constant explosions of color.

11. Mexican Heather

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Alternate, Round
Specific Needs: Full sun, Well-drained soil
Common Pests: Japanese beetles, Caterpillars

Mexican heather or cipher (Cuphea hyssopifolia) displays bright lavender-pink flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds to Florida gardens. The mounded shrub grows two to three feet tall and wide, covered with fragrant blooms during spring, summer, and fall.

Butterfly gardening, Mexican heather provides valuable nectar for butterflies in your landscape as one of the best butterfly plants in Florida. The foliage is gray-green with a fuzzy texture that helps reduce moisture loss in hot, humid Florida conditions.

12. Butterfly Vine

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Palmately, Compound
Specific Needs: Full sun to partial shade, Rich soil
Common Pests: Japanese beetles, Caterpillars

The vines of Butterfly vine, or red yam vine (Pteris hederacea), grow rapidly in Florida’s hot summers to provide nectar, shelter, and host plants for caterpillars of Gulf fritillaries and zebra longwings.

The unique red and yellow flowers bloom spring through fall, attracting other common butterflies and hummingbirds. Grow butterfly vines on a trellis or arbor to provide abundant nectar for your successful butterfly garden. The lobed leaves provide ample cover for butterfly larvae.

13. Agastache

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Lanceolate, Toothed leaf margin
Specific Needs: Full sun, Well-drained soil
Common Pests: Japanese beetles, Caterpillars

Hummingbird and butterfly plants (Agastache spp.) bear spikes of tubular flowers in red, orange, pink, or purple shades that attract numerous pollinators. The aromatic, mint family plants grow two to four feet tall with fragrant foliage.

Many varieties offer extended bloom times through the Florida growing season, supplying nectar for visiting common butterflies and plants. The wildlife value and easy care make perennial Agastache excellent additions to most Florida gardens.

14. Tropical Hibiscus

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Palmately, Lobed
Specific Needs: Full sun, Moist soil
Common Pests: Japanese beetles, Caterpillars

With their extraordinarily large blooms in red, pink, and yellow shades, tropical or Chinese hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) make excellent butterfly plants in Florida gardens. The flowers resemble shallow trumpets, ideal for butterflies seeking nectar. Flowering can occur year-round with proper care. South Florida tropical hibiscus grows as perennial bushes or small trees, perfect for adding bright color and fragrant blooms that attract butterflies to any landscape.

15. Mexican Milkweed

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Oblong, Lance-shaped
Specific Needs: Full sun, Well-drained soil
Common Pests: None

Add butterfly weeds like Mexican milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) in your Florida garden to attract monarch butterflies. This milkweed species produces clusters of bright orange and yellow flowers, providing abundant nectar for monarchs and other butterflies. The foliage also serves as a host plant for monarch caterpillars. Mexican milkweed grows one to three feet tall and wide, adapting well to conditions in South Florida and the Florida Keys.

16. Red Turtlehead

Growing Season: Summer
Leaf Shape: Rounded, Heart-shaped
Specific Needs: Full sun to partial shade, Moist soil
Common Pests: None

Red turtlehead (Chelone lyonii) is an excellent Florida wetland butterfly plant that provides nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds with its dense spikes of bright red tubular flowers. The perennial wildflower grows one to four feet tall with sandpapery leaves arranged in opposite pairs on square stems.

Red turtlehead is commonly found in swamps, stream sides, and other moist areas in central Florida, though it also adapts well to average garden conditions with regular moisture.

17. Zinnia

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Alternate, Linear
Specific Needs: Full sun, Well-drained soil
Common Pests: Aphids, Spider mites

Zinnias create a colorful riot of blooms that attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds with nectar-rich flowers in red, orange, yellow, and purple shades. Zinnias tolerate hot Florida summers and environments from south Florida to the Panhandle, making them an ideal addition as an annual butterfly plant.

The plants reach one to three feet tall, producing daisy-like flowers over a long bloom period to supply continuous nectar for visiting butterflies in your Florida garden.

18. Porterweed

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Lanceolate, Small
Specific Needs: Full sun to partial shade, Moist soil
Common Pests: Aphids, Spider mites

The lavender tubular flowers of porter weed (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis) provide a bounty of nectar to attract butterflies to any Florida landscape. This heat-tolerant plant grows as a sprawling subshrub or small tree three to 10 feet tall in regions from central Florida to the Panhandle. The bright green lance-shaped leaves and colorful blooming habit make porter weed a low-maintenance addition for homeowners seeking natural butterfly plants.

19. Coreopsis

Growing Season: Spring, Fall
Leaf Shape: Alternate, Lobed
Specific Needs: Full sun, Well-drained soil
Common Pests: Aphids, Spider mites

Coreopsis is a genus of flowering perennial and annual plants prized by Florida gardeners for attracting common butterflies and bees with colorful daisy-like blooms. Varieties bear yellow, orange, red, or gold flowers growing one to three feet tall on upright stems.

Butterfly plants originating in North America, coreopsis thrive in hot conditions and adapt well to most Florida gardens. The lobed foliage and extended bloom time from spring through fall make coreopsis low-maintenance additions to any Florida landscape.

Conclusion

Florida’s tropical climate offers an ideal environment for successfully growing attractive plants that draw butterflies in abundance year-round.

Zinnias create a colorful riot of blooms that attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds with nectar-rich flowers in red, orange, yellow, and purple shades.
Hummingbird and butterfly plants (Agastache spp.) bear spikes of tubular flowers in red, orange, pink, or purple shades that attract numerous pollinators.
Red turtlehead (Chelone lyonii) is an excellent Florida wetland butterfly plant that provides nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds with its dense spikes of bright red tubular flowers.

The transformative beauty of observing clouds of colorful butterflies flitting above vibrant blooms is truly magical. The joy your Florida butterfly garden brings you will be matched by the wonder it sparks within every child and visitor who experiences that natural abundance up close. So embrace these hardy, tropical butterfly plants and plan your butterfly paradise today.