ron medvescek / arizona daily star

Other articles by John P. Begeman:

: Plan ahead to save cold-sensitive plants : Choosing the right pot Vibrant fall color: Decorate yard with grasses : Activities this month : Extension Gardens open to all : Damage-control time : Killing desert broom Made for the shade: g e t y ar d s e t f o r f a ll

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Fall is a great time for adding plants to your garden and landscape. Some of the best choices are plants whose flowers provide a favorite source of nectar for butterflies.

Here are some favorite butterfly nectar plants well-adapted to desert landscapes:

● Butterfly mist (Ageratum corymbosum) is small, multi-stemmed shrub with misty blue to lavender flower clusters set above lush, light-green foliage. It has a loose, open form and can be used in informal settings among other desert shrubs and ground covers. It also grows well in containers. Flowers are abundant from late spring to early fall and are a favorite nectar source for the male queen butterflies. This plant is cold-sensitive and will freeze to the ground in the winter, but it grows back rapidly in the spring.

● Pine-leaf milkweed (Asclipias linaria) is a nectar source for a number of butterfly species. It's most often visited by the queen butterfly, an orange-and-black species commonly mistaken for a monarch. The ivory flowers grow in small clusters on the ends of spreading stems. Small, needlelike evergreen leaves give the plants a wispy, fine-textured appearance. Plants bloom from spring to fall and develop papery seed pods that split to disperse seeds with tufted silky hairs typical of milkweed species. In addition to providing a nectar source for butterflies, pine-leaf milkweed is also a food source for butterfly larvae.

● Red bird of paradise (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) provides continuous bloom and nectar for butterflies from late spring through October. The brilliant-orange flowering shrub graces medians and roadways in and around Tucson. Flower clusters are globular and more than 6 inches across, fiery orange with a tinge of gold on the edges. With their long, orange stamen, these flowers are reminiscent of tropical birds, thus the name. Red-birds attract swallowtails, sulphurs and skipper butterflies.

● Trailing lantana (Lantana montevidensis) is an ideal nectar plant for all types of butterfly species. Its extended flowering season, from spring to early winter, attracts year-round garden visitors such as the painted lady. As the name implies, plants spread over time to a width of 5 to 6 feet and a height of 2 feet. Lavender flowers cover the plant all season. In cold spots, lantana will freeze back, but it grows back rapidly in the spring.

● Other native and desert-adapted landscape plants that provide nectar for butterflies include desert senna, Goodding verbena, Baja fairy duster, Mexican sunflower and catclaw acacia.

More information on nectar and larval plants for butterflies is available from "Desert Butterfly Gardening," a publication of the Arizona Native Plant Society and the Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute. It is available at many local garden centers and nurseries.