I've planted as many host plants as I can in my yard, and I'm still planting more. It started when I noticed several pretty butterflies that seemed to always linger in the trees beside my house. Then I noticed that there weren't as many of them. I wondered what they were, and why they were always in the same area, and why their numbers were dwindling. I found out that they are our state butterfly, the Zebra Heliconian, and that they use Corky stem passion vine,  (Passiflora suberosa) as their host plant. They were vanishing because I’d been clearing a nasty overgrowth of Australian Pine, and while I was sawing and chopping and weed-eating the (explicative deleted; see my page on those vile trees for details) saplings, I’d been unwittingly destroying the vine as well.

At first, I hid my host plants where they were harder to see, but I noticed that my resident butterflies, like my Zebra Heliconians, Sulphurs, Cassius Blues and Gulf Fritillaries spend a great deal of time fluttering about their host plant laying eggs and dancing with potential mates, so I started putting the host plants right by the front porch and in front of the kitchen window where I can really enjoy watching them even when I'm in a hurry or doing dishes.

Some butterflies, like the Atala, use only one type of plant. Others will use many related plants. Have a look through my Host Plant pages (above) or my Butterfly pages to find out what I've seen each butterfly use so far, and enjoy the photos.

I get most of my plants by collecting seeds, as cuttings or seedlings from friends, or from my favorite plant source, Meadow Beauty Nursery.