You can see several cultivated exotic plants in the garden that serve well as nectar plants and are easy to obtain and grow. The Pentas (Pentas lanceolata) is a good all-around nectar plant loved by many pollinators. Clusters of the bright red flowers attract the Orchid Bee (Euglossa dilemma) along with the butterflies. This bee is a recent immigrant from Mexico and Central America and was thought to have come into Florida on wooden pallets. In its home range it has a relationship with orchids where the male bee harvests scents from the flowers and stores them on his hind legs. During his hunt for the perfect scent combination to attract a mate, he inadvertantly transfers pollen.
Take a look at the Blue Porterweed (Stachytarpheta cayennensis) in the next picture and you will easily identify it at several places in the garden. It is usually preferred by gardeners because it grows larger than the native (Stachytarpheta jamaicensis). If you wish to use the native, get it from a reliable native nursery since it is commonly misidentified. Either species is a good nectar plant and flowers constantly all year. `
The Sweet Almond (Aloysia virgata) has a wonderful scent and the white flower spikes can be seen rising above the other plants in the garden. In the picture, a Zebra Longwing is feeding on these flowers. It's a Florida Friendly plant meaning that, although it is an exotic, it does not tend to wander from the garden.
You can't miss the large, bright yellow flower spikes of the Candlestick Plant (Senna alata). It is a host plant for several species of Sulphur Butterflies and also a good nectar plant for other pollinators. The leaves fold up at night. This plant is also called the Ringworm Bush because the leaves contain a fungicide used to treat Ringworm.
