Southeastern U.S. Butterflies and Their Plants

Butterfly species vary from area to area, state to state, and region to region. Plants chosen for a butterfly garden in Florida many not be the best plants for a garden in New York or Oregon.

For the Southeastern US, these are some of the plants that would be great in a butterfly garden.

• Pawpaw for Zebra Swallowtail
• Pipevine for Pipevine Swallowtail
• Fennel, parsley, dill for Eastern Black Swallowtail
• Black cherry, tulip poplar for Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
• Spicebush, red bay, sassafrass, for Spicebush Swallowtail and Palamedes Swallowtail
• Milkweed for Monarch and Queen
• False nettle, hackberry, for Eastern Comma, Question Mark, Red Admiral
• Passion vine for Gulf Fritillary, Zebra Longwing, Variegated Fritillary, Julia
• Asters for Pearl Crescent
• Willow, hackberry for Mourning Cloak
• Willow, black cherry for Red-spotted Purple
• Willow for Viceroy
• Hackberry for Tawny Emperor and Hackberry Emperor
• Hackberry for American Snout
• Senna for Cloudless Sulphur, Orange-barred Sulphur, and Sleepy Orange

Many of these plants are available online from Shady Oak Butterfly Farm.