When people ask me about attracting butterflies to their garden, my number one recommendation is to plant coneflowers. In this day and age, a lot of plants at the nursuries are marketed a “pollinator-friendly” and usually have a picture of a butterfly on them. But there are many, many types of pollinators (bees, wasps, hover flies…). They are all good, and by all means, plant things that attract them, but if you want butterflies, I’ve found there’s nothing better than coneflowers.
Monarch’s do need milkweed (it’s the only place they lay their eggs) but when it comes to snack time, they love a good coneflower.
This Black Eastern Swallowtail spent a good half hour checking out each one of the coneflower blooms in my backyard the other day.
Another one came by a day later. He was missing half his wing, but it didn’t stop him from getting some good eats.
This little one came by a day or two after that. She was about half the size of the others, and was hard to photograph because she would NOT stop fanning her wings!
Part of me believes she’s the caterpillar that got away – though there’s absolutely no way to know.
And last… the coneflowers are even interesting to the White Cabbage butterflies.
They are probably the most ubiquitous butterfly in our garden. At any given moment there’s at least one fluttering about. But they are notoriously hard to photograph because they rarely sit still!
This fall, I’m planning a it of a revamp on the gardens, and if there’s any room in them come spring, I’m planting more coneflowers!
Wandering Cat Studio 
Your photos are beautiful. I think I need to find a spot in the yard to plant some coneflowers.
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WOW! Those photos are stunning. I can’t believe you captured pictures of all of those butterflies. That had to have taken some time. Now I think when we get another house I’ll need some coneflowers.
Blessings,
Betsy
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How lovely! I’ve got one very tall, weird plant that is not very photogenic but it attracts the bees and the butterflies like crazy. I should have planted one near the cucumbers for better pollination.
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Am trying to add all kinds of plants, to attract all of the bees and butterflies that I can, but you definitely make a good case for coneflowers!
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I should plant a whole area with them for our flutterbys! Just beautiful photographs!
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What wonderful photos! Coneflowers are just so beautiful even without the butterflies. So a fall garden renovation is on the schedule. Will be interesting to see what changes you make.
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So jealous! Those are really beautiful photos.
We have very little sun in our yard, so I don’t think coneflowers would make it. Someday I’m going to have a sunny yard with lots of flowers.
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