Scorpiontail
A butterfly nectar plant that blooms every day of the year and reseeds itself everywhere
Heliotropium angiospermum
Why it works here
The name is the flower. Tiny white blooms line up along a spike that uncurls as it grows, exactly like a scorpion's tail, and there is one on the plant every single day of the year. That is what makes it valuable. It is not showy from across the yard. It is a workhorse up close, and butterflies treat it like a gas station. FNPS and the Florida Wildflower Foundation both list it as nectar for more than ten butterflies, including the Miami blue, the Schaus' swallowtail, and the gulf fritillary. Those first two live in the Keys and will not be visiting Stuart, so read that as a measure of the plant, not a promise about your yard. It is a real Martin County native, it is cheap, it is easy to find, and it will absolutely seed itself around your beds. Whether that is a feature or a problem depends on you, and I want you deciding that before I plant it.
Care
Full sun to part shade, sandy soil, water to establish and then leave it alone. It grows fast and it gets leggy, so cut it back hard once a year, and it is fine to shape it anytime. It is a short lived perennial, so any single plant is a few year proposition, but the seedlings keep the colony going. Pull the volunteers you do not want when they are small.
Common problems
Reseeding. FNPS says it can get weedy and that is fair. It is a native, not an invasive, but it moves around. Keep it out of a formal bed you want to stay put.
Short lived. Plants tire out. Let a seedling take over rather than trying to save an old one.
Buying the wrong heliotrope. There are two non native heliotropes loose in Florida, and one of them, Indian heliotrope, has bigger lilac flowers. Ours is white. Buy from a native grower.
No documented pests or diseases. I have not seen any either.
Common questions
Is it showy?
No. It is a texture and a constant hum of butterflies. Put it in front of something with bigger flowers and let it do the quiet work.
Will it take over?
It will spread by seed and you will find it in the next bed over. It is easy to pull and it is native, so I do not lose sleep over it. If you want a tidy garden that stays exactly where you drew it, this is the wrong plant.
Can I eat it or make tea out of it?
No. This family carries compounds you do not want, and nobody has studied this species closely enough for me to tell you otherwise. Enjoy the butterflies.
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