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.
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Perennials
| Plant name | Butterflies it attracts |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) | Northern metalmark, meadow fritillary, |
| 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, fritillaries |
| Blue vervain (Verbena hastata) | Least skipper, common buckeye |
| 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 |
| English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) | Eastern tailed-blue, monarch, swallowtails |
| Garden mum (Chrysanthemum x morifolium) | Monarch, cloudless sulphur |
| Garden phlox (Phlox paniculata) | Silvery checkerspot, blue swallowtail, black swallowtail, spicebush swallowtail, tiger 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 |
| Milkweed (Asclepias spp.) | Monarch, hairstreaks, Eastern tailed-blue, swallowtails, great spangled fritillary |
| 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 |
| Pincushion flower (Scabiosa columbaria) | Painted lady, red admiral, sulphur, swallowtails |
| 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 x superba) | Cloudless sulphur, hoary edge |
| Tall sedum (Sedum spectabile) | Silver-spotted skipper, sachem, pepper and salt skipper, pearl crescent, painted lady, buckeye, monarch, grey hairstreak |
| Texas paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa) | Checkerspots |
| Tickseed (Coreopsis spp. and hybrids) | Buckeye, viceroy, spring azure, pearl crescent, red admiral |
| Turtlehead (Chelone lyonii) | Silver spotted skipper, swallowtails |
| Yarrow (Achillea spp.and hybrids) | Coppers, hairstreaks, skippers |
Annuals
| Plant name | Butterflies it attracts |
|---|---|
| Arroyo lupine (Lupinus succulentus) | Common sulphur |
| Cosmos (Cosmos spp. and hybrids) | Sachem, silvery checkerspot, pearl crescent, buckeye, alfalfa butterfly, cloudless sulphur |
| Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana) | Cloudless sulphur |
| Lantana (Lantana camara) | Buckeye, alfalfa butterfly, pearl crescent, fiery skipper, red admiral, monarch, gulf fritillary |
| Marigold (Tagetes spp. and hybrids) | 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) | Monarch, painted lady, swallowtails |
| Petunia (Petunia hybrids) | Spicebush swallowtail, European butterfly, cloudless sulphur, Peck’s skipper, Zabulon skipper |
| Snapdragon (Antirrhinum hybrids) | Sachem |
| Star flower (Pentas lanceolata) | Spicebush swallowtail |
| 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 it attracts |
|---|---|
| Azalea (Rhododendron spp. and hybrids) | Giant swallowtail, pipevine swallowtail |
| Butterfly bush (Buddleja spp.) | Blue swallowtail, spicebush swallowtail, cloudless sulphur, fiery skipper |
| Button bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) | Tiger swallowtail, pipevine swallowtail, monarch, skippers |
| Hydrangea (Hydrangea spp. and hybrids) | Little wood satyr, monarch |
| Lilac (Syringa vulgaris) | Blue swallowtail, zebra swallowtail, tiger swallowtail, spicebush swallowtail |
| Privet (Ligustrum spp.) | Painted lady, red-spotted purple, silver spotted skipper, zebra swallowtail |
