Coral Reef Elementary School Garden Page
Here you will find information about our "Butterfly Garden" which is maintained by our Garden Club and our "Feast for the Senses Veggie Garden" which is maintained by our Green Team.
CRE Butterfly Garden Plant List
Trees
Southern Live OakOaks support more life-forms than any other North American tree genus, providing food, protection or both for birds to bears, as well as countless insects and spiders, among the enormous diversity of species.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/31/realestate/oak-trees-why-you-should-plant.html
The threatened Florida scrub jay relies on the scrub form of the southern live oak for nesting. Other birds make use of the moss that frequently hangs from the tree branches to construct nests.
https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Plants-and-Fungi/Southern-Live-Oak
Bushes/Shrubs
Yew Podocarpus Hedge encircling the garden
Blue Porterweed & Red Porterweed
Date planted April 2022
Tropical Milkweed
To be added at later date:
Sunshine Mimosa, Mimosa strigillosahttps://floridanativegarden.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/a-short-bit-on-sunshine-mimosa-mimosa-strigillosa/
Corkystem Passionvine, Passifloraceaehttps://www.fnps.org/plant/passiflora-suberosa
Blue butterfly pea, Clitoria ternatea
Trees
Southern Live OakOaks support more life-forms than any other North American tree genus, providing food, protection or both for birds to bears, as well as countless insects and spiders, among the enormous diversity of species.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/31/realestate/oak-trees-why-you-should-plant.html
The threatened Florida scrub jay relies on the scrub form of the southern live oak for nesting. Other birds make use of the moss that frequently hangs from the tree branches to construct nests.
https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Plants-and-Fungi/Southern-Live-Oak
Bushes/Shrubs
Yew Podocarpus Hedge encircling the garden
Blue Porterweed & Red Porterweed
- Nectar plant.
- Non-native variety and not a host plant.
- Other observations: there is a native variety that grows 2-3ft tall, more of a sprawling groundcover growth habit.
- Nectar plant attracting butterflies, moths and hummingbirds.
- Showy flowers year-round.
- Host plant for palmetto skipper and monk butterflies
- Its yellow berries turn black, ripening August through October. These berries are an important food source for many mammals and birds.
Date planted April 2022
- Yellow flowers are a nectar source
- Florida native
Tropical Milkweed
- Host plant for monarchs
- Non-native variety
- Gets eaten to stubs during butterfly migration but will recover
- Host plant for Checkers white (Pontia Protodice) and Great Southern White (Ascia Monuste) butterflies.
- Florida native.
- Yellow flowers.
- Larval host plant for the cloudless sulphur and sleepy orange butterflies.
- Native to central and southern Florida and the Bahamas.
- Host plant?
- Purple flowers (growing in shady area)
- Red and pink varieties planted.
- Flowers attract butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators.
- Host plant for painted lady butterfly.
- Florida native.
To be added at later date:
Sunshine Mimosa, Mimosa strigillosahttps://floridanativegarden.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/a-short-bit-on-sunshine-mimosa-mimosa-strigillosa/
- Host plant for little sulfur butterfly
- Florida native
- Nitrogen fixing ground cover
- Purple puffball flowers look like something from Dr. Seuss.
- Florida native
- Produces great edible pumpkins and serves as living weed barrier by shading the ground
Corkystem Passionvine, Passifloraceaehttps://www.fnps.org/plant/passiflora-suberosa
- Larval host for Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae), Julia Heliconian (Dryas iulia) and Zebra Heliconian (Heliconius charitonius) butterflies.
- Fun fact: The passion flower contains a toxin that gives the butterflies that munch on it as caterpillars an unpleasant taste and makes them poisonous to predators.
Blue butterfly pea, Clitoria ternatea
- Nectar plant.
- Larval host plant for Long Tailed Skipper butterfly
- Like most plants in the fabaceae (bean) family, its roots fix nitrogen and improve soil fertility to the benefit of neighboring plants.
- Fun fact: flowers are edible and will turn your tongue blue!