Q: Hi, I am interested in finding a place that sells or gives butterfly larvae and/or caterpillars for my daughter's butterfly garden. I now have to order them from California and am not sure if this is nature-ly correct. -- Thanks, Tracy

I live in Miami and I want fill my yard with plants that will attract butterflies. Please advise. -- Thanks, Rosalie

A: Hey, Tracy and Rosalie, maybe you should get together!

Actually, butterfly gardening has become extremely popular, so you're in good company. I have my own butterfly gardens and am rewarded with the sight of these winged insects every day.

Unless you live in an extremely urban area, Tracy, you probably don't need to buy larvae; if you have the right plants, the butterflies and caterpillers will come to you! As far as buying them from California, you may or may not be displacing butterflies whose natural food source isn't available in Florida; it depends on the species you are buying. But the trip from California could throw them off their migration path, again depending on the species. (That is why some people are against butterfly releases at events like weddings -- because the area the butterflies are released into may not have the specific food plants the butterflies need, and then they die. This practice also brings up issues of possible butterfly poaching on the seller's part, ensuing migration problems for the butterflies and the manner in which butterflies are shipped that cloud the situation.)

There are lots of places for you to begin learning how to attract butterflies to your yard. I started with a couple of books on the subject: The Butterfly Book by Donald and Lillian Stokes and Living with Wildlife by Marilyn and Ron Leys. For Florida-specific butterfly gardening, however, you have to go to the experts: Marc and Maria Minno, who wrote Florida Butterfly Gardening.

There are also some helpful online resources about butterfly gardening. Definitely check out the North American Butterfly Association if you haven't already. This site offers good tips, and so do Web sites of the local chapters; there are 8 chapters in Florida. The Atala chapter in the Palm Beach area has some really good information on butterfly gardening that I have used. The University of Florida's Butterfly Gardening in Florida is a fabulous source of information, so don't let the dull page layout deter you from your research. Also see the butterfly gardening section at FloridaGardener.com.

At the most basic level, you want to install 2 kinds of plants: those that butterfly larvae (caterpillars) eat -- called host plants -- and those that the mature insect (butterflies) can get nectar from. In the books and resources I mentioned above, you should be able to find out which butterfly species require which plants. Luckily, there are some plants, such as Spanish needle -- often seen as a weed -- that many species of butterflies like. Note that caterpillars will eat the leaves of the host plants, which will make the plants look straggly for a while, but they should bounce back.

After you have the right plants in place, you may want to give butterflies a place to drink or the special treat of rotting fruit. I have a plastic red plate (butterflies love red) on a stick in the ground in one of my butterfly gardens where I place old bananas and/or clean play sand (available at hardware stores) soaked with water. I call it the butterfly bar.

Be open to the kinds of butterflies that show up in your yard. Butterflies' natural habitat and range vary throughout Florida. So plant for butterflies native to your area, but try not to be disappointed if your favorite one doesn't show up, and enjoy those that do come.

Please see the other butterfly-related Q&As on the EcoFlorida Web site.

Hope that gets you started!

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