The Butterfly Garden is designed with plants that attract butterflies and meet their needs. The garden includes:
- Host plants on which butterflies lay eggs and where their larvae, the caterpillars, feed
- Nectar plants which provide food for adult butterflies
- Shelter plants that provide protection from wind, rain and predators
The goal of the garden is to showcase plants and educate local gardeners about plants which can be found and grown in their gardens to attract local butterflies. A field guide for butterfly identification, written by the Fort Bend Master Gardeners Entomology Group, is available as a resource to help the public identify eggs, caterpillar stages, chrysalis and adult butterflies, as well as their host and nectar plants. The garden serves as an interactive, educational exhibit for young and old alike.
The table below shows the host and nectar plants.
| Common Name | Botanical Name | Host/Nectar |
|---|---|---|
| Almond Verbena (tree) | Aloysia virgata | N |
| American persimmon (large tree) | Diospyros virginiana | H/N |
| Bay tree, Red bay (tree) | Persea borbonia | H/N |
| Bee Balm | Monarda sp. | N |
| Bluebonnet | Lupinus texensis | H/N |
| Blue-eyed grass | Sisyrinchium bellum | N |
| Bottle brush dwarf | Callistemon viminalis | N |
| Button bush (Chinese) (small tree) | Adina rubella | N |
| Button bush (small tree) | Cephalanthus occidentalis | N |
| Cassia, Candle stick plant (small tree) | Cassia alata | H/N |
| Cassia, Flowery Senna (small tree) | Cassia corymbosa | H/N |
| Cestrum | Cestrum aurantiacum | N |
| Citrus, calamondin | Citrofortunella microcarpa | H /N |
| Cone flower, purple | Echinacea sp. | N |
| Coral Honeysuckle | Lonicera sempervirens | N |
| Coreopsis, Tickseed | Coreopsis sp. | N |
| Cuphea, Cigar plant | Cuphea ignea | N |
| Dahlberg Daisy | Thymophylla tenuiloba | N |
| Dill | Anethum graveolens | H/N |
| Duranta | Duranta erecta | N |
| Fennel | Foeniculum vulgare | H/N |
| Firespike | Odontonema cuspidatum | N |
| Frogfruit | Phyla nodiflora | H/N |
| Gaillardia, Blanket Flower | Gaillardia sp. | N |
| Gaura | Oenothera lindheimeri | N |
| Golden Rod | Solidago altissima | N |
| Hamelia, Hummingbird bush (shrub) | Hamelia patens | N |
| Kidneywood, small tree | Eysenhardtia texana | N |
| Lantana (pink, yellow, orange) | Lantana camara | N |
| Lantana, (red, orange, yellow) | Lantana urticoides (L. horrida) | N |
| Mallow, Rose Mallow | Hibiscus moscheutos | H/N |
| Mexican bauhinia (small tree) | Bauhinia mexicana | N |
| Mexican Flame Vine | Senecio confusus | N |
| Mexican Mint Marigold | Tagetes lucida | N |
| Milkweed, Antelope Horn | Asclepias asperula | H/N |
| Milkweed, Aquatic Milkweed | Asclepias perennis | H/N |
| Milkweed, Butterfly Weed | Asclepias tuberosa | H/N |
| Milkweed, Green Milkweed | Asclepias viridis | H/N |
| Mist Flower Blue | Conoclinium coelestinum | N |
| Oxalis, Purple shamrock | Oxalis triangularis | N |
| Parsley | Petroselinum crispum | H/N |
| Partridge Pea | Chamaecrista fasciculata | N |
| Passion vine | Passiflora incarnata | H/N |
| Pentas, Egyptian Starflower | Pentas lanceolata | N |
| Pipevine, White Veined | Aristolochia fimbriata | H/N |
| Pipevine, Calico | Aristolochia littoralis | H/N |
| Pipevine, wooly | Aristolochia tomentosa | H/N |
| Powderpuff (dwarf), Fairy Duster | Calliandra emarginata | N |
| Rockrose, Pavonia | Pavonia lasiopetala | N |
| Rue | Ruta graveolens | H/N |
| Rudbeckia, Giant Cone Flower | Rudbeckia maxima | N |
| Rudbeckia, Black-eyed Susan | Rudbeckia fulgida, ‘goldstrum’ | N |
| Rudbeckia, Brown-eyed Susan | Rudbeckia triloba | N |
| Russian sage | Perovskia atriplicifolia | N |
| Salvia | Salvia greggii | N |
| Salvia | Salvia coccinea | N |
| Salvia, | Salvia farinacea | N |
| Salvia, Black and Blue | Salvia guaranitica | N |
| Salvia | Salvia sp. | N |
| Shasta Daisy | Leucanthemum sp. | N |
| Shrimp plant | Justicia brandegeeana | H/N |
| Snake Herb | Dyschoriste linearis | N |
| Sunflower | Helianthus Sp. | N |
| Turks cap | Malvaviscus arboreus Var. drummondii | N |
| Verbena, Homestead | Verbena sp. | N |
| Verbena, Prairie Verbena | Glandularia bipinnatifida | N |
| Vitex, Chaste tree | Vitex agnus-castus | N |
| Winecup | Callirhoe involucrata | N |
| Yarrow, Desert Eve Yarrow (pink) | Achillea millefolium | N |
| Yarrow (yellow) | Achillea sp. | N |
| Yarrow (native, white) | Achillea millefolium var.occidentalis | N |
| Zinnia, old fashioned tall | Zinnia sp. | N |
| Zinnia, dwarf | Zinnia sp. | N |
In the following table you can see the shelter plants used in our butterfly garden.
| Common Name | Botanical Name |
|---|---|
| Dahoon Holly, small tree | Ilex cassine |
| Ginger | Zingiber sp. |
| Grass | |
| Vinca variegated, Lesser Periwinkle ground cover | Vinca minor |
| Wood Fern | Thelypteris kunthii (Desv.) Morton |
| Yaupon Holly, small tree | Ilex vomitoria |
| Rose, Ellen’s Rose (Remembering Ellen) | Rosa sp. |