Purple Coneflower: A Powerful Butterfly Magnet

Leonard Weber

August 5, 2023

A perennial wildflower that blooms several weeks each summer in Eliza Howell Park is Purple Coneflower. I regularly visit these patches in July and August, often pausing for extended periods of time near them.

Purple Coneflower

There are other flowers that attract butterflies in the park, but nothing compares with Purple Coneflower. Butterflies focused on sipping its nectar often let me get close enough to take photos with a phone camera.

Here are 17 butterfly species that I have (so far) been able to capture photographically while they and I visited Purple Coneflowers.

Red Admiral
Mourning Cloak
Monarch
American Lady
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Black Swallowtail
Giant Swallowtail
Common Wood-Nymph
Orange Sulphur
Viceroy
Little Glassywing
Painted Lady
Red-spotted Purple
Great Spangled Fritillary
Peck’s Skipper
Variegated Fritillary
Tawny Emperor

The wildflowers of Eliza Howell Park provide great butterfly watching. And, among the wildflowers, none is more effective at attracting butterflies than Putple Coneflower. I will be returning!

One response to “Purple Coneflower: A Powerful Butterfly Magnet”

  1. Beth Jorgensen Avatar
    Beth Jorgensen

    Amazing! So nice to see butterflies enjoying these flowers!

    Like

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