October is Florida Native Plant Month, and in Southwest Florida it also marks the beginning of a much more comfortable gardening season.

As summer heat and daily rain begin to ease, gardeners can establish shrubs, perennials and wildflowers with less stress than during the hottest part of the year.

For butterflies, the goal is not just flowers. A useful butterfly garden combines nectar plants for adults with host plants that caterpillars can actually eat.

UF/IFAS recommends using native plants whenever possible because many important larval host plants are native and already adapted to local conditions.

That means a good butterfly garden should have plants at different heights, overlapping bloom times and both sunny feeding areas and some sheltered spaces.

October is also an active migration period for butterflies and other pollinators. Fall-blooming natives can provide important nectar when insects are moving through the state.

For Southwest Florida gardeners who want to start now, a timely shopping opportunity is coming up in Sarasota County.

The UF/IFAS Sarasota County Master Gardener Volunteer Plant Sale is scheduled for Oct. 10 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Twin Lakes Park, 6600 Clark Road in Sarasota.

The sale is expected to include native flowering plants, ornamental grasses, groundcovers, trees, shrubs and a limited selection of edible plants, with free admission.

Right plant, right place still matters. Match every purchase to the sunlight, drainage, soil moisture and mature size of the actual planting site instead of buying only for flower color.

The October takeaway: this is the month to start building the butterfly and native-plant garden you wanted during summer but wisely waited to plant.