Eric’s extras: The best native garden plants for Monarch butterflies in West U, Bellaire gardens

Caterpillar Host Plants

Aquatic Milkweed (Asclepias perennis)

Green Milkweed (Asclepias viridis)

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

 

Nectar Plants for Adult Butterflies

Texas Lantana (Lanatana urticoides x horrida)

Blue Sage (Salvia azurea)

Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida)

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

Painted Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)

Lanceleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata)

Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens)

Tall Goldenrod (Solidago altissima)

Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelstinum)

Maximillian Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani)

Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

Prairie Blazingstar (Liatris pychnostachya)

Sharp Blazingstar (Liatris acidota)

Fall Aster (Symphotrichium oblongifolium)

Frostweed (Verbesina virginica)

Late Boneset (Eupatorium serotinum)

Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)

Mexican Plum Tree (Prunus mexicana)

From Eric Duran, head naturalist, Nature Discovery Center in Bellaire and author of Wired to Nature, monthly in the Bellaire•West University Essentials magazine.