What plants are favorites for butterflies who need a quick energy snack? Well, it varies with the butterfly. But to point you in the right direction, here are some well-known garden flowers and the butterflies who find them tasty.
This list is by no means complete — there are so many butterflies and so many plants they like. Put a few of these favorites in your garden. Then as butterflies arrive for lunch, watch to see what else they feast on. Next year, be sure to add more of those plants to your garden.
Perennials
Plant
name |
Butterflies |
|---|---|
Aster Aster spp. |
Sleepy orange, painted
lady, checkered skipper, sachem, silver-spotted skipper,
monarch, red admiral |
Bee balm Monarda spp. |
Painted lady, Milbert’s tortoise
shell, mourning cloak, eastern swallowtail |
Blanket flower Gaillardia spp. |
Great spangled fritillary,
cloudless sulphur, clouded sulphur, alfalfa butterfly, silvery
checkerspot, red admiral, monarch, giant swallowtail |
Blazing star Liatris spp. |
Painted lady, fritillary |
Butterfly weed Asclepias tuberosa |
Monarch, blue swallowtail,
Gorgone checkerspot, spicebush swallowtail, coral hairstreak,
mourning cloak |
Chicory Cichorium intybus |
Little sulphur |
Coreopsis Coreopsis spp. |
Silver-spotted skipper,
pearl crescent, American painted lady, great spangled fritillary,
spring azure |
Garden mum Chrysanthemum xmorifolium |
Monarch, cloudless sulphur |
Garden phlox Phlox paniculata |
Silvery checkerspot, blue swallowtail, black swallowtail,
spicebush swallowtail |
Globe thistle Echinops ritro |
Painted lady, gray hairstreak |
Goldenrod Solidago spp. |
Monarch, clouded sulphur,
alfalfa butterfly, eastern tailed blue, viceroy |
Grape hyacinth Muscari spp. |
Silver-spotted skipper, clouded sulphur,
alfalfa butterfly |
Joe-Pye weed Eupatorium spp. |
Monarch, viceroy, painted lady |
Moss phlox Phlox subulata |
Black swallowtail, tiger swallowtail,
spicebush swallowtail, pearl crescent, painted lady |
Peony Paeonia officinalis |
Spicebush swallowtail,
silver-spotted skipper, Peck’s skipper, tawny-edged
skipper, little wood satyr |
Purple coneflower Echinacea purpurea |
Spicebush swallowtail, silver-spotted
skipper, tawny-edged skipper, sachem, wood nymph, great
spangled fritillary, harvester, eastern tailed blue |
Red clover Trifolium pratense |
Pearl crescent, alfalfa
butterfly, little sulphur, spicebush swallowtail |
Salvia Salvia xsuperba |
Cloudless sulphur, hoary edge |
Tall sedum Sedum spectabile |
Silver-spotted skipper,
sachem, pepper and salt skipper, pearl crescent, painted
lady, buckeye, monarch, grey hairstreak |
Annuals
Plant
name |
Butterflies |
|---|---|
Cosmos Cosmos spp. |
Sachem, silvery checkerspot,
pearl crescent, buckeye, alfalfa butterfly, cloudless sulphur |
Impatiens Impatiens walleriana |
Cloudless sulphur |
Lantana Lantana spp. |
Buckeye, alfalfa butterfly,
pearl crescent, fiery skipper, red admiral, monarch, gulf
fritillary |
Marigold Tagetes spp. |
Sleepy orange, silvery checkerspot, pearl
crescent, buckeye, clouded sulphur, alfalfa butterfly, dog
face, cloudless sulphur, little sulphur, dainty sulphur,
great spangled fritillary |
Mexican sunflower Tithonia rotundifolia |
Painted lady |
Petunia Petunia hybrids |
Spicebush swallowtail, European butterfly,
cloudless sulphur, Peck’s skipper, Zabulon skipper |
Snapdragon Antirrhinum spp. |
Sachem |
Verbena Verbena canadensis |
Cloudless sulphur, blue swallowtail, spicebush
swallowtail, black swallowtail |
Zinnia Zinnia elegans |
Sachem, pepper and
salt skipper, roadside skipper, Southern cloudy wing, great
spangled fritillary, silvery checkerspot, pearl crescent,
painted lady, red spotted purple, variegated fritillary,
monarch, alfalfa butterfly |
Shrubs & Vines
Plant
name |
Butterflies |
|---|---|
Butterfly bush Buddleja spp. |
Blue swallowtail, spicebush
swallowtail, cloudless sulphur, fiery skipper |
Hydrangea Hydrangea spp. |
Little wood satyr |
Lilac Syringa vulgaris |
Blue swallowtail, zebra
swallowtail, tiger swallowtail, spicebush swallowtail |
Wisteria Wisteria floribunda |
Hoary edge, sleepy orange, olive hairstreak |