Posted September 2002 by Ann Kinsinger, Columbia, SC
The main factor in choosing plants for me - aside from butterfly attraction power - is the ability to withstand heat, sun, humidity, and sandy soil. Where I live, this is a serious consideration. Fortunately, many good butterfly plants fit this bill. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the good old nectar standards: Butterfly bush (Buddleia Davidii), lantana, homestead verbena, verbena bonariensis, pineapple sage, purple cone flower, glossy abelia, red pentas, Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus), apple mint, petunias, dianthus of various kinds, Garden Phlox, Joe-Pye Weed, and more.
My surprise popular nectar flower this summer is Pink Baby's Breath (Gypsophila). Who ever heard of Baby's Breath as a butterfly plant??? I bought three of them last fall because they had Eastern-Tailed Blues nectaring on them at the nursery. They have thrived in my garden - full sun, sandy soil, SC Midlands heat - with no special care. They started blooming in April, and are still going strong. In addition to the Eastern-Tailed Blues, I have seen Common Buckeyes, Fiery Skippers, and Gray Hairstreaks nectar on them. The Gray Hairstreaks in particular are extremely fond of it and will spend long periods of time there.
I don't have many Larval Food Plants yet in my garden. This year I tried Licorice Plant (Helichrysum petiolatum), which attracts American Ladies. It did pretty well until the end of summer, when the extended heat/drought finally did it in, even though it got watered. Cassia corymbosa is an LFP for the Cloudless Sulphurs and Sleepy Oranges, and I had caterpillars for both on mine last fall. I expect more this year. I also have several Bronze Fennel plants, and have had several generations of Eastern Black Swallowtails this summer, with a bumper crop going right now. I had to go out and buy more plants to support all the eggs I am finding! Last fall, I also planted what I thought was Lindera for the Spicebush Swallowtails, but when it bloomed this spring, it became clear that whatever it is, it isn't Lindera. The flower is all wrong. In a few weeks I am planning a trip to the We-Du Nursery in North Carolina, where I hope to get some REAL Lindera.
Another surprise was finding a buckeye caterpillar on my diascia this last spring. Turns out diascia is a cousin of the snapdragon, which is a known larval food for the common buckeye. After that, I tried putting out pots of diascia in the garden as I had many buckeyes flying around at that point in time, but no more little caterpillars.