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1. Cultivated plants
These are easy to grow, keeping in mind:
1) Plant in good potting
soil with organic compost mixed in. Packet soil may be bought at garden centres. Specify that you want the burnt earth and top-soil mix.
2) Most need at least
morning sunlight for proper growth & flowering. Some,
like the Pagoda plant and Aristolochia vine, do better in shaded, more
humid conditions.
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Golden Dewdrop*
Duranta
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bushy with pretty flowers and
fruit.
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Ixora*
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especially red flowered varieties
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Lantana*
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red or orange flowered varieties, experiment
with other colours.
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Pentas*
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forms a compact bush. Looks like Ixora.
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Pagoda Plant
Clerodendron paniculatum
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favoured by Papilios like
the gorgeous Common Birdwing butterfly.
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2. Wildflowers - easy to find & grow
Wildflowers are growing right under your nose!
They can be seen sprouting out of a pavement crack, by sides of drains, among
your 'garden' plants (that's when we call them weeds!), on as yet to be
developed land, etc? Easily started from seeds or cuttings, they are usually not
fussy about their soil. All have a beauty of their own!
Key: N = nectar, C = caterpillar food)
| Key |
Name |
Description |
| N |
Cordia
|
This is indeed a butterfly
bush! Popular with many species, especially with the Striped Albatross
butterfly. Now you can finally see the difference in colour patterns
between the sexes when a group of them is sipping together
|
| N,C |
Asystasia intrusa
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Very popular with most butterflies. Almost
non-stop flowering with purple-tongued flowers!
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| N |
Coat Buttons
Tridax procumbens
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Popular with smaller
butterflies like the Lesser Grass Blue. Very pretty to look at, especially
when grown on the lawn, with the flower-heads nodding in the breeze. Just
don't mow so often!
|
| N |
Snakeweed
Stachytarpheta indica
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Another butterfly food-bar
plant
|
| N |
Sea Oxeye Daisy
Wedelia biflora
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| NC |
Purple Cleome
Wild Cat's Whiskers
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Caterpillar
Food Plants Most of these plants
are easy to grow, even in pots by your window or balcony. Urban butterflies
frequenting high-rise mini-gardens include the Lime and Leopard, if their
foodplants are grown. And of course, no chemical pesticides
or fertilisers should be used. Then just sit back and wait for your pretty
visitors to arrive!
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Citrus (lime, pomelo)
*
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Lime Butterfly (U), Common Mormon, Great
Mormon (pomelo)
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Curry Leaf *#
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Common Mormon (U)
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Weeping Willow
*@
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Leopard (U)
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Bushy Cassia
*
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Orange Emigrant (U)
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Golden Showers Cassia *
Cassia fistula
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Lemon Emigrant (U)
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Seven Golden Candlesticks
(Cassia alata) **
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Mottled Emigrant
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Saga #
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Hebe Nawab
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Asystasia intrusa
**# @
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Great Eggfly
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Crotalaria sp
**#
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Peablue
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Urena sp **#
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Neptis sp
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Bloodflower
Asclepias currasavica
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Plain Tiger
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Crown flower
Calotropis gigantea
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Plain Tiger
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Milkweed Vine
**#
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Tiger spp
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Aristolochia tagala
**
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Rare Common Birdwing and Common Rose. A
firm support will be needed for this climber to grow upon.
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Wild Cat's Whiskers
#
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Psyche (U), Striped Albatross (U), Cabbage White (U)
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Albizia #
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Common
Grass Yellow (U)
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Wild Cinnamon *
Cinnamomum iners
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Bluebottle, rare Common Mime
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Cycad *
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Cycad
Blue. The plant may look bald once in a while after being nibbled, but
the leaves will grow back.
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MacArthur's Palm and
Yellow
Cane Palm *
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Palmfly
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Key: |
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*
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commonly available
at garden centres
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**
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seeds available from
Nature Society if you send a self-addressed envelope with a 22 cents stamp
(in Singapore only)
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|
@
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easily grown from
cuttings
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#
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wild plant easily
grown from seed
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(U)
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urban butterflies.
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Plant Reference
The pocket guide book series published by
Singapore Science Centre is handy and useful for identification purposes. Check
out these titles:
- Butterflies of Singapore
- Wayside Trees of Singapore
- Common Horticultural Shrubs
- Common Wildflowers
of Singapore
These two books are by Dr Ivan Polunin.
- Plants and Flowers
of Singapore
- Plants and Flowers
of Malaysia
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