Annual and Perennial Plants of the LRGV
The following table lists the growing group of plants that have been suggested and reviewed by butterfly gardeners in the LRGV.
Check back often, the LRGV Garden Guide is currently under construction. More annuals and perennials will be added to the table below in the coming months.
English Name |
Scientific Name |
Plant Type |
Caterpillar Food Plant for: |
|
| Butterfly Mistflower | Chromolaena odorata | perennial | Not a caterpillar food plant | |
| Firewheel | Gaillarida pulchella | annual | Not a caterpillar food plant | |
| Heartleaf Hibiscus | Hibiscus martianus | perennial | Yojoa Scrub-hairstreak, Mallow Scrub-hairstreak, Gray Hairstreak | |
| Partridge Pe | Chamaecrista fasciculata | annual | Cloudless Sulphur, Sleepy Orange, Little Yellow, Ceraunus Blue, Gray Hairstreak | |
| Texas Toadflax | Nuttallanthus texanus | perennial | Common Buckeye | |
| Tropical Milkweed | Asclepias curassavica | perennial or annual | Monarch, Queen, Soldier | |
| Turkey Tangle Fogfruit | Phyla nodiflora |
|
Common Buckeye, Phaon Crescent, White Peacock | |
Trees, Shrubs, and Vines of the LRGV
Te following table lists the growing group of plants that have been suggested and reviewed by butterfly gardeners in the LRGV.
Don't see your favorite butterfly garden plant listed? Let us know by clicking This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Input from experienced butterfly gardeners is welcome.
Check back often, the LRGV Garden Guide is currently under construction. More trees, shrubs and vines will be added to the table below in the coming months.
English Name |
Scientific Name |
Plant Type |
Caterpillar Food Plant for: |
| Berlandier Acacia | Acacia berlandieri | Shrub | Long-tailed Skipper |
| Corkystem Passionflower | Passiflora suberosa | Vine | Gulf Fritillary, Julia Heliconian, Zebra Heliconian |
| Faux Persil Balloon vine | Cardiospermum corindum | Vine | Gray Hairstreak, Miami Blue, Silver-banded Hairstreak |
| Guayacan | Guaiacum angustifolium | Tree | Lyside Suphur |
| Lime Pricklyash | Zanthoxylum fagara | shrub or tree | Giant Swallowtail, Northern Sicklewing, Schaus' Swallowtail |
| Spiny Hackberry | Celtis pallida | Large Shrub or Tree | Emperors, American Snout, Red-bordered Metalmark |
| Sugarberry | Celtis laevigata | Tree | American Snout, Question Mark, Tawny Emperor, Hackberry Emperor, Mourning Cloak |
| Texas Lantana | Lantana urticoides | Shrub | Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak |
Get Started: Butterfly Garden Guide
You can create a paradise for butterflies while encouraging habitat restoration, no matter how large or small an area you have! Begin planning your garden with the Basics of Butterfly Gardening, from the North American Butterfly Association. Learn which native plants are suitable for butterfly gardens in your location, with Regional Butterfly Garden Guides. Show your commitment to increasing butterfly populations and educating others by certifying your butterfly garden or habitat through NABA's Butterfly Garden Certification Program. Explore native butterfly garden plants selected by NABA's butterfly gardening community as essential plants to include in your garden with NABA's Butterfly Garden Plants. Fine tune your garden plant selections with Caterpillars and Host Plants.
Certify Your Love of Butterfly Gardening!
Plant three nectar plants and three caterpillar food plants that are native to your region. Your garden will then qualify to join the growing number of NABA Certified Butterfly Gardens, helping to promote and increase butterfly habitat across the country.
Your Guide to Butterfly Gardening in the Lower Rio Grande Valley
Nestled between the Chihuhuan Desert on the west and the Gulf of Mexico on the east in the USDA climate zone 9, the Lower Rio Grande Valley is an area of contrasting climatic and biotic influences. Including Starr, Hidalgo, Willacy, and Cameron counties, this area experiences annual rainfall ranges from about 26 inches along the Gulf coast to 17 inches on the western edge of the region.
With an average mean temperature of about 72 degrees and nearly 325 days of sun, the Lower Rio Grande Valley enjoys the longest growing season in the United States. Temperate and tropic climates meet here, as do the major Mississippi and Central bird flyways.
Eleven different biotic communities serve as habitat to over 300 species of butterflies. Unfortunately, over 95% of this natural habitat has been lost due to agricultural, industrial, and urban development.
Planting a butterfly garden in the Lower Rio Grande Valley is one way to help restore some of the habitat that has been lost to development and provide resources for wild butterflies to thrive and grow.
The following plants have been selected and rated by NABA members as important native plants for butterfly gardening in the region.
NABA Selected Shrubs, Vines, and Trees for the LRGV
NABA Selected Annuals and Perennials for the LRGV
NABA greatly appreciates the volunteer contributions of the local experts who generously gave their advice on this garden guide. They have included Gil Quintanilla and Mike Quinn with contributions from Diann Ballesteros, David & Jan Dauphin, Javier Deleon, Carol Goolsby, Martin Hagne, David Hanson, Maxine McClendon, Christina Mild, Joshua Rose, Ellie Thompson, Cynthia Traylor, Ann Vacek, and Frank Wiseman, among others.
How to Start a Butterfly Garden....
The following set of butterfly gardening brochures explain the concepts and techniques of butterfly gardening applicable throughout the U.S. and southern Canada. These information-packed brochures provide the information needed to start and expand butterfly gardens.
All brochures produced by NABA's Program for Butterfly Gardens & Habitats are copyrighted by the North American Butterfly Association, Inc., with all rights reserved. But users are welcome to copy them for distribution for educational, non-commercial purposes.
Basics of Butterfly Gardening provides information to get started planning a butterfly garden.
Straight Talk About Butterfly Biology will introduce you to the biology of butterfly lifecycles.
Straight Talk about Butterfly Population Biology explains how butterfly populations operate in nature, to be applied to maintaining butterflies in our habitats, no matter how humble, more effectively.
Managing for Butterflies in Prairie: Or, what do I do now, that I want to manage for butterflies? explains how to manage prairie to achieve its greatest potential in butterflies.
Straight Talk about Butterfly Habitat Management examins what matters to butterflies in habitat management.
Butterflies & Ecosystem Management looks at how butterflies fit into ecosystem management.
Successful Butterfly Conservation Management provides examples of butterfly species that have been successfully conserved.
NABA's Butterfly Garden and Habitat Program can:
Help you create a paradise for butterflies while encouraging habitat restoration, no matter how large or small an area you have. Begin planning your garden with the Basics of Butterfly Gardening. Learn which native plants are suitable for butterfly gardens in your location with . Show your commitment to increasing butterfly populations and educating others by certifying your butterfly garden or habitat through NABA's . Explore native butterfly garden plants selected by NABA's butterfly gardening community as essential plants to include in your garden with . Fine tune your garden plant selections with Caterpillars and Host Plants
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