Our Focus
Butterfly gardens focus on nectar and host plants
Here in Hernando County, we have butterflies and native pollinators that do not migrate. Butterfly gardens focus on year-round nectar sources. Host plants offer a place for butterflies to lay their eggs. By planting host plants you will have mating pairs of butterflies offering twice the number.
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Consider adding a pollinator garden. Maybe you would like to attract more butterflies? How about a garden to attract birds? Reconsider those flowerbeds in the front yard?
Offering Milkweed for Monarchs
Offering Milkweed for Monarchs
One of my goals as a milkweed nursery is to carry more varieties of Florida native milkweed that any other nursery in Florida. Because of this I raise much of my milkweed from seed to sale. I do not use pesticides or chemicals. I follow organic practices when raising milkweed.
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Milkweed Man Property before any landscaping
This is The Milkweed Man property before the native gardens were installed.
The first flower bed installed
The first flower bed of the project. I collected plants for one year before planting. Once planted I put in 80 potted wildflowers. I use pine straw/needles for mulch. Place three inches deep and don't crowd the stems of the plants. It took four months to complete.
The transformation after 16 months
The transformation after 16 months
This is less than two years and the gardens have naturalized. The native grasses have matured, and the various native flowers are blooming. Photo taken in May 2021.
Florida native milkweeds
What we are about
Here at the Milkweed Man Plant Nursery, we grow Florida native milkweeds. We offer Florida native wildflowers as well. With an extensive knowledge of native and non-native plants, we offer landscape design in many forms. From a community pollinator garden to fully landscaped lawns. We can design formal to naturalized gardens for your landscape.
Planting "Spring"
Florida's growing season starts well before the rest of the country. Therefore, I consider February 2nd, Groundhog Day to be the first day of "Planting" Spring. This is a great time to start planting hardy plants. More tender frost sensitive plants are best planted in March. Starting as early as Janurary, the native milkweed is waking up, going through a fast growth rate to bloom and produce seed before the Monarch's arrival usually coming to a peak in May.
An Educational Experience
The Milkweed Man Nursery is a teaching nursery. I strive to educate the public in the care and raising of the plants I sell. I do my best to teach about Florida's Monarchs and other native butterfly populations. Together we can make a difference. That difference must be achieved with the proper steps in raising caterpillars and offering native nectar sources for adult butterflies and pollinators. Many of our pollinators are not adapted to non-native plants and don't always use them as a nectar source.
Most asked questions:
The most asked questing is: "Are the plants safe for the Monarchs to eat?" The answer? Yes, all milkweed is raised without the use of pesticides. Fertilizers are organic. Aphids are taken care of by beneficial insects or a spray of water. By checking daily for possible problem areas, many times infestations don't occur.
Photo Gallery of Native and Non-native Milkweeds
Whorled Milkweed, Asclepias verticillata
Rosy Swamp Milkweed, Asclepias incarnata
Orange Butterfly Milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa
Snowy White Milkweed, Asclepias perennis
Pinewoods Milkweed, Asclepias humistrata
Red Ring Milkweed, Asclepias variegata
Expanded Inventory to the Nursery!
Black-eyed Susans
$8
2 to 3 feet tall. Full Sun. This Southern gardener's favorite is a great nectar source. Readily reseeds emerging the following Spring. NATIVE
Butterfly Bush
$6
These fragrant flowers attract multitudes of butterflies. An excellent non-native addition to butterfly gardens. (A Question Mark Butterfly, "Polygonia interrogationis" was feeding on mine at the nursery)
Cooley' Waterwillow, Justicia pringlei
$8
Only growing to one foot tall, these vibrant pink flowers truly stand out. These flowers grow in full or part shade. This endangered flower is endemic to the Brooksville ridge. NATIVE
Coral Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens
$22
This vine grows 12 to 15 feet. They bloom more when trellised. This hardy vine will bloom and fruit year-round, even with frost and freeze. NATIVE
Corky Stem Passion Vine
$6
This small vine reaches 15ft. It is best trellised. Host plant for Gulf Fritillary and Zebra Longwing Butterflies. Birds and small mammals consume fruit. NATIVE
Daisy Fleabane, Erigon quecifolius
$6
1 to 2 feet tall. Spreads by seed and root. Frost and freeze tolerant. Great Winter nectar source. NATIVE
Dotted Horsemint, Monarda punctata
$6
Two to five feet tall, very drought tolerant. Full Sun. Attracts hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, and moths. NATIVE
False Nettles
$6
2.5 to 3 feet tall, preferring damp soil, and does well-preferring part shade to full shade. Host plant for Question Mark Butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis), Red Admiral Butterfly (Vanessa atalanta), Eastern Comma Butterfly (Polygonia comma) NATIVE
Firebush, var. Calusa
$22
This native Firebush is a hybridized variety. The growth is much more compact growing 6 to 8 ft. tall. Offering year-round color in the dark red leaves. The blooms are a brighter orange-red. This bush is the most visited plant in the nursery. Attracting butterflies, bumble bees,
Giant Ironweed, Veronia gigantea
$12
This flower grows up to six feet tall, growing in full Sun or part shade. Nectar attracts butterflies and bees.
Larval host for spring azure butterfly. NATIVE
Hairy Cowpea, Vigna lutea
$6
This vine can reach 10 feet and can mound up to 6 feet. The yellow blooms can appear year-round mainly fruiting in the Fall.
Larval host plant for cassius blue (Leptotes cassius), dorantes longtail (Urbanus dorantes), gray hairstreak (Strymon melinus), and long-tailed skipper (Urbanus proteus) butterflies. (Host plant Info. Florida Native Plant Society) NATIVE
Large Flower False Rosemary, Condradina grandiflora
$6
2 to 4 feet tall. Long-lived perennial. Full Sun. Drought tolerant once established. NATIVE
Muhly Grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris
$10
Up to four feet tall, drought tolerant once established. Small birds enjoy the seed. NATIVE
Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea
$12
Growing 3 to 5 feet tall Attracts many pollinators. Birds and small animals consume the seed. NATIVE
Purple Passion vine, Passiflora incarnata
$10
Growing to 25 feet long, this vine needs to be trellised. Winter dormant. Produces and edible fruit. Purple passionflower is larval host plant for numerous butterfly species, including Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) and Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charithonia), the state butterfly of Florida. It also is host to the Crimson Patch Longwing (Heliconius erato), Red-banded hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops)and Julia Heliconian (Dryas iulia) butterflies. (Host plant info. Florida Native Plant SociTIVE
Spiderwort, Tradenscantia ohiensis
$10
Two to three feet tall, full Sun part shade, drought tolerant once established. NATIVE
Stoke's Aster, Stokesia laevis
$8
1 to 1 1/2 feet tall. This will multiply at the root growing larger over the years. Attracts many pollinators. NATIVE
Sunshine Mimosa, Mimosa strigillosa
$10
Sunshine Mimosa is an excellent ground cover. Only growing 6 inches tall. This can take part to full Sun. Drought tolerent once established. It is a larval host plant to the "Little Sulphur Butterfly."
Swamp Hibiscus, Hibiscus coccineus
$14
This long-lived perennial can grow to 8 feet. This hibiscus prefers a damp soil. Winter dormant. Attracts hummingbirds and butterflies. Larval host of Gray Hairstreak, Painted Lady Butterfly, Common Checkered Skipper, and Tropical Checkered Skipper butterflies and four moths: Pearly Wood Nymph, Yellow Scallop Moth, Io Moth, and Delightful Bird-Dropping Moths. (Larval host plant info. Florida Native Plant Society) NATIVE
West Coast Dune Sunflower, Helianthus deblis, subsp. vestitus
$6
This drought-tolerant flower is found on the beaches of Florida. Growing 2 to 3 feet tall. Pollinated by bees and butterflies. NATIVE
Wild Petunia, Ruellia caroliniensis
$6
1 to 2.1/2 feet tall. Winter dormant. Excellent nectar source for pollinators. Host plant for Common Buckeye and White Peacock Butterflies. NATIVE
Wild Sweet Basil
$6
Growing to one foot, prefers a damp soil. Will reseed readily. May be used in the kitchen. State endangered plant. NATIVE
Yellowtops, Flaveria linearis
$8
This perennial grow to three feet tall. It blooms in the Fall and Winter making it an important nectar source for many non-migratory pollinators. NATIVE
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A little about the owner, Shawn
Additional Information
I was four years old, living in Northern Illionois, when my mother said she was going to take me outside and show me where the seeds hide. She took me up to an orange marigold. One of her favorites. She plucked the dried seed head, opened it, showed me the seeds and then scattered them over the garden. That one simple act influenced me the rest of my life.
I was fortunate that my newly built high school had an attached greenhouse. Of course, my senior year I took that horticulture class. In January each student chose two flowers to grow from seed. We would plant and raise them, selling them at the end of the year. I was living with my aunt at the time, and I bought her every petunia there was. We planted them in each raised bed on each side of the front door. That Fall after the first frost, Aunt Ethel started to pull the wilted petunias. I said, "No, stomp them into the ground and they will reseed next Spring." She did, and yes, they came up. Twenty years later, Aunt Ethel was known as the "Petunia Lady" and she exclaimed, "I can't get rid of them!"
In 1986, I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida. One of the main reasons for the move was the weather. Ten years later in 1996, I moved to Spring Hill. I took a year off to remodel the home and landscape the yard.
In 2015, I move to my current home. In 2017, I put in a vegetable garden. I struggled but never gave up. In my reading I discovered that the vineyards in California began planting native plants at the ends of all the rows. Their crop production went up with more, healthier grapes. My reasoning? What worked for them should work for me. I began this practice and my interest in native plants began.
Myself at Buchart Gardens, Victoria Canada. 100 Year Anniversary.
The Petunia Garden
Fourth of July family reunion, 1982
Aunt Ethel with her daughter, Robin and son, Tom. On the front steps in front of the petunia garden.