Valuable Native Weeds That Attract Wildlife<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is too bad that some of our native wildflowers are called weeds; these plants can remain mixed with your lawn or replace it entirely to benefit wildlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two most colorful weeds that can take foot traffic and need mowing only once every few weeks include the powder puff mimosa, and fogfruit. Both can replace lawn entirely if you wish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Powder puff has feathery leaves that close when touched, a pink flower and it doesn\u2019t climb. It is just three inches tall, is very drought tolerant and is the larval food of the little yellow butterfly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fogfruit, or creeping Charlie, is low also, and has small leaves with round heads of white and pink flowers on a short stalk. This is a larval food for the white peacock and phaon crescent butterflies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lay down mulch after killing the grass and sprig one or both of these plants every square foot for a colorful, low maintenance groundcover. Water them only to establish and during extreme drought if needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several other plants can remain in your lawn and will tolerate mowing. The corky passionvine is the larval food for three butterflies including the zebra-longwing, Julia and gulf fritillary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Southern pencilflower has small yellow flowers and is the larval food for the barred yellow sulfur butterfy. The several species of cudweed should stay on the sidelines where they won\u2019t get stepped on. They have silvery foliage and flowers which the American lady butterfly will lay her eggs on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the winter you will see many Virginia peppergrass plants in your lawn. This is the larval food for the great southern white butterfly which can become very numerous some years, yet does no harm. The young foliage is tasty in salads, adding a sharp mustard flavor similar to arugula. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grasses are the larval food for various skipper butterflies. Try some of our ornamentals like fakahatchee, love grass, native foxtail, little bluestem, lopsided indiangrass, or broom sedge. These are too tall to be used in pathways though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basket grass and witchgrass love shade and grow as a three inch tall mat. They can be used in pathways. Even silky aster makes a nice grass replacement and has little yellow flowers on a foot tall stalk. This should go on the edge and not be walked on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You may enjoy the book, Florida Butterfly Caterpillars And Their Host Plants by Marc Minno, Jerry Butler and Donald Hall-University Press of Florida. There are lots of pictures and lists of hosts in an easy format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You will be surprised by the numbers of butterflies and birds that will make a home in your yard as you increase the diversity of plants. Even \u201cweeds\u201d in your lawn are important food sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t forget that birds, like the wood warblers, migrate to South America in the fall. The October cold front will send them south in a hurry, so get out your binoculars and be ready for a great show as they stop and feed in your yard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hummingbirds arrive in mid September and the buntings follow soon after. Some of these two will stay the winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With plenty of seeds forming on your native lawn, the birds will have plenty to eat whether it is the seeds themselves, the insects that feed on the seeds or the spiders that feed on the insects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Valuable Native Weeds Valuable Native Weeds That Attract Wildlife It is too bad that some of our native wildflowers are called weeds; these plants can remain mixed with your lawn or replace it entirely to benefit wildlife. The two most colorful weeds that can take foot traffic and need mowing only once every few weeks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[772],"tags":[864,190,47,863,862],"class_list":["post-4472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-welcoming-wildlife","tag-bird-attractors","tag-bird-food","tag-butterfly-larval-food","tag-nectar-plants","tag-valuable-native-weeds"],"yoast_head":"\n