Butterfly Gardening
for the Rio Grande Valley of Texas

• Best Nectar Plants

• Best Caterpillar Food Plants

• Helpful Pointers on Soils, Growing Season, and Climate

• 20 Easy Steps to Successful Butterfly Gardening

• Places to Buy Native Butterfly Plants

• Native Design and Landscape Service Companies

• References and Useful Links

• Garden Butterflies

• Uncommon, Local & Unusual Butterflies

 

Butterfly Gardening for the Rio Grande Valley of Texas

Compiled by Gil Quintanilla and Mike Quinn

Contributors:   Diann Ballesteros, David & Jan Dauphin, Javier Deleon, Carol Goolsby, Martin Hagne, Maxine McClendon, Joshua Rose, Ellie Thompson, Cynthia Traylor, Ann Vacek, Frank Wiseman

 

 

Top Butterfly Nectar Flowers for Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas

Note:  First 20 Listed are "top" ones
native/alien*	English Name	Scientific Name	Height	Flower Color	Bloom Season	Type  Butterflies	Growing Hints/Other Comments
N	betony mistflower	Conoclinium betonicifolium	2'	blue	nearly all yr	most all	coastal area native, excellent year-round nectar
N	crucita, mistflower	Chromalaena odorata	6'	blue	fall	most all	superb fall nectar, needs space, trim back to 2' Jan/Feb
N	Mexican wild olive, anacahuita	Cordia boissieri	10'-20'	white	nearly all yr	most all	excellent
N	Texas lantana	Lantana urticoides	3'-4'	red, orange & yellow	nearly all yr	most all	proned to fungus/insects, needs pruning
N	white brush	Aloysia gratissima	8'-10'	white	nearly all yr	many	beautiful aromatic flower clusters
N	Mexican buttonbush	Cephalanthus salicifolius	8'-18'	white	spring-summer	many	excellent nectar, heat tolerant, grows in wet soil
N	velvet-leaf lantana	Lantana velutina	4-6'	white	year-round	many	fast growth and hardy
alien	duranta	Duranta erecta	6-10'	blue,white,purple	spring-fall	most all	excellent, not freeze hardy
alien	gregg's mistflower	Eupatorium greggii	2'	Bluish purple	spring-fall	queen, soldier	native to central Texas, reseeds easily
N	frogfruits	Phyla strigulosa, incisa	10"	white	nearly all yr	many, mostly small spp.	excellent ground cover, needs plenty of room
N	taperleaf heliotrope	Heliotropium angiospermum	2'	white	nearly all yr	many, mostly small spp.	excellent, reseeds easily
N	spring mistflower	Eupatorium azureum	4'	blue	winter-spring	many	superb winter nectar when little else is blooming
N	crotons	Croton humilis, cortez	1-6'	cream	nearly all yr	hairstreaks,  metalmarks	excellent year-round nectar
N	hairy wedelia, zexmenia	Wedelia texana = W. hispida	2'	yellow	nearly all yr	many	excellent, showy, and drought tolerant
N	white plumbago	Plumbago scandens	3 1/2'	white	fall	many	tolerates shade; skin irritant;groundcover
N	white mistflower	Fleishmannia incarnata	climbs to 6'	white	nearly all yr	hairstreaks	go easy on the watering
N	turk's cap	Malvaviscus drummondii	5'	red	nearly all yr	many	shade tolerant, attracts hummingbirds
alien	tropical (Mexican) milkweed	Asclepias curassavica	3'-4'	red&yellow	spring-fall	monarch, queen	gorgeous flowers, native just south of Valley
N	Mexican trixis	Trixis inula	3-4'	yellow	nearly all yr	many	attractive, unarmed shrub, blooms through most of year
N	bush sunflower	Simsia calva	3'	yellow	nearly all yr	many	excellent nectar and host, showy, and drought tolerant
N	shrubby blue sage	Salvia ballotiflora	5'	bluish purple	after rain	many	attractive ornamental, low water needs, nectar good to fair
N	skeleton leaf daisy	Viguera stenoloba	3'	yellow	spring-fall	many	dense shrub, needs full sun, unarmed, heat tolerant
***********	TOP 20
alien	Mexican flamevine	Senecio confusum	climbs 8'+	orange	nearly all yr	many	excellent, bright showy flowers
N	scarlet sage	Salvia coccinea	3'	scarlet red	after rain	many	tolerates shade, trim to 4" as needed
alien	West India lantana	Lantana camara	4'	yellow/pink	spring-fall	many	showy, excellent nectar source
N	tube tongue	Siphonoglossa pilosella	1'	white/purple	after rain	checkerspots, crescents	delicate groundcover, easy-care, spreads
N	cowpen daisy	Verbesina enceloides	4'	yellow	year-round	many	tolerates poor soils; reseeding annual
N	heartleaf hibiscus	Hibiscus martianus	2'	red	nearly all yr	many	good nectar and food plant
N	tenaza	Pithecellobium pallens	6-20'	cream	after rain	swallowtails	rapid upright growth; thorny trunk, light shade
N	guajillo	Acacia berlandieri	10-15'	white/cream	spring	many	excellent, armed with recurved prickles
N	anacua	Ehretia anacua	20'+	white	spring-fall	many	excellent nectar blooms and berries
N	aster, hierba de marrano	Aster subulatus	2-4'	bluish purple	summer-fall	many	annual
N	dakota vervain	Glandularia bipinnatifida	10"	purple	spring-fall	many	beautiful ground cover
N	golden rod	Solidago spp.	7'	yellow	fall	many	not source of allergies
N	horsemint	Monarda spp.	1-3'	white/pink	spring-fall	many	tolerates dry conditions
N	lippia, wild oregano	Lippia alba,graveolens	1-2'	reddish, white	year-round	many	aggressive, spreads
N	sweet stem	Aloysia macrostachya	to 12'	pink	spring-fall	many, mostly small spp.	showy, likes poor well-drained soils
N	climbing milkweed	Sarchostemma cyanchoides	6'	white	spring-fall	many	needs containing
N	Texas thistle	Cirsium texanum	3'	purplish-pink	spring-summer	many	prickly foliage; reseeding annual
N	fiddlewood	Citharexylum berlandieri	8'+	white	spring	many	thornless shrub, easily gown
N	palafoxia	Palafoxia		pink	spring-fall	many	adult nectar source
alien	rose pavonia	Pavonia lasiopetaia	3'	pink	spring-fall	many	beautiful fresh flowers daily! native of central Texas
alien	pride of Barbados	Caesalpinia pulcherrima	10'	orange, yellow	summer-fall	many	showy, attracts large sulphurs and swallowtails
alien	coral vine	Antigonon leptopus	climbs 10"+	pink	spring-fall	most all	excellent nectar, aggressive and needs containment
alien	porterweed	Stachytarpheta spp.	12'+	purple/red	summer-fall	many	excellent nectar, drought-tolerant, self-sows freely

 

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Top Caterpillar Food Plants Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas

Note:  First 10 Listed are "top" ones
Native/
Alien	English Name	Scientific Name	Height	Caterpillars	Hints/comments
N	blue passionvine	Passiflora foetida	vine	gulf fritillary	rapidly consumed by caterpillars
N	corky stem passionvine	Passiflora suberosa	vine	gulf fritillary, mexican silverspot	robust vine that attracts large numbers of caterpillars
N	cowpen daisy	Verbesina encelioides	3'	bordered patch	very good nectar source
N	turk's cap	Malvaviscus drummondii	6'	turk's-cap white-skipper	tolerates shade; spreads, takes pruning
alien	tropical (mexican) milkweed	Asclepias curassavica	3'-4'	monarch, queen	native just south of LRGV, reseeds annually
N	ruellia, wild petunia	Ruellia nudiflora	1-2'	malachite, white peacock	fair nectar plant
N	Texas torchwood	Amyris texana	6'	giant swallowtail	plants in the citrus family are excellent foodplants
N	Texas kidneywood	Eysenhardtia texana	12'	southern dogface	samll tree with beautiful aromatic flower clusters
N	sugar hackberry	Celtis laevigata	30-50'	emperors, snout	large tree
N	vasey adelia	Adelia vaseyi	10'	Mexican bluewing	large shrub
N	frogfruits	Phyla strigulosa, incisa	10"	white peacock,	nearly all year
N	crotons	Croton humilis, cortez	1-6'	tropical,goatweed leafwings	very good nectar source
alien	guamuchil	Pithecellobium dulce	20-30'	red-bordered pixie, large orange sulphur	large tree
alien	guava	Psidium guajava	6-25'	guava skipper	many cultivars
N	heart-leaf hibiscus	Hibiscus martianus	3-6'	mallow-scrub-hairstreak, gray hairsttreak	short-lived perennial
N	Barbados cherry, manzanita	Xylosma flexuosa	8' or less	white-patched skipper,	hedge/shrub; attractive red fruit
N	Texas baby bonnets	Coursetia axillaris	5-7'	southern dogface, Funereal Duskywing	rare ornamental, thornless with dainty pink flowers
N	prairie milkweed	Asclepias oenotheroides	1-2'	monarch and mimics	fleshy root, tolerates poor soils
N	white plumbago	Plumbago scandens	3 1/2'	marine blue, cassius blue	tolerates shade; skin irritant;groundcover
alien	flame acanthus	Anisacanthus wrightii	3-5'	crimson patch	native to Edwards Plateau
TOP 20
N	common sunflower	Helianthus annulus	2'	bordered patch	annual
N	saltbush	Atriplex	2-4'	western pygmy blue	evergreen, silvery foliage makes a good contrast
N	stonecrop	Sedum texanum	<6"	xami hairstreak	rock gardens, rock walls, clay pots
N	oreja de raton	Bernradia myricaefolia	3-8'	lacey's scrub-hairstreak	thornless and good landscape plant
alien	dill	Anethum graveolens	2'	black swallowtail	easy to grow
N	climbing milkweed	Sarcostemma cynanchoides	vine	queen,soldier, monarch	needs to be contained
N	morning glory vine	Ipoemoea vines	12'	variegated fritillary	wide choice of vines
N	snapdragon vine	Maurandya antirhinnifolia	vine	buckeye	delicate beautiful vine
N	mallows	Abutilon spp	various	laviana white-skipper	good adult nectar source
N	dicleptera	Dicliptera sexangularis	2'	Texan crescent, crimson patch	Aggressive, will spread and reseed easily
N	balloon vine	Cardiospermum halicacabum	10'	silver-banded hairstreak	trellises, hurricane fences, blankets prickly pear
N	noseburn	Tragia glanduligera	vine	red rim, common mestra	stinging delicate vine; adaptable
N	stinging nettle	Urtica chamaedryoides	<3'	yellowish	stinging hairs; forms colonies; seasonal
N	colima, lime prickly ash	Xanthoxylum fagara	>7'	sickle-winged skipper	recurved abundant thorns; rampant growth
N	clammy weed	Polanisia dodecandra	3'	great southern white	annual that re-seeds itself
N	Dutchman's breeches	Thamnosma texana	1'	black swallowtail	likes full sun, low water requirement
N	pipe vine	Aristolochia marshii	vine	pipevine, polydamus swallowtail	hardy
N	spiny hackberry, granjeno	Celtis pallida	8-10'	American snout	armed and lanky growth
N	guayacan	Guaiacum angustifolium	10'	lyside sulphur	slow growing
N	barreta	Helietta parviflolia	6'-12'	giant swallowtail	slender evergreen
N	colima, lime prickly ash	Zanthoxylum fagara	5-20'	sickle-winged skipper,ornythion swallowtail	evergreen heat-tolerant
Alien	citrus spp.	citrus	15'	swallowtails	many varieties widespread in the Rio Grande Valley
N	retama	Parkinsonia aculeata	25-30'	Clench's greenstreak	attractive yellow fowers
N	tepeguaje	Leucaena pulverulenta	20-30'	mimosa yellow	thornless, fast gowing and excellent shade tree
N	Texas ebony	Pithecelloblum flexicaule	30"	white-angled sulphur, large orange	large tree
N	cenizo	Leucophyllum frutescens	8'	theona checkerspot	drought and heat tolerant, excellent hedge plant
N	senna	Cassia alata	6"	orange-barred sulphur,	host for ceraunus blue and angled sulphurs
N	water hyssop	Bacopa monnieri	2-4"	white peacock	grows in wet soil and ponds
N	pigeonberry	Rivina humilis	2-4'	white/pink	spreads, red fruit clusters, evergreen
alien	canna	canna indica	2'	braziian skipper	varied colors and easy to grow
both	grasses	Poaceae	various	skippers and satyrs	introduced grasses endanger native foodplants

 

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