Blooms and Butterflies Trial

This was a second monitoring trial (2018-2022) built on data collected in the first trial.

Common Buckeye, Junonia coenia

Common Buckeye, Junonia coenia

Data from the 2012 to 2014 monitoring showed that certain plants were more attractive to butterflies. A second monitoring project was set up to build on the earlier data by monitoring 41 plants. Most were already in the trial, but on the advice of the Xerces Society we planted some additional species.

Master Gardeners from Lancaster, Lebanon, and York Counties participated in the monitoring. Monitoring occurred twice a week during the bloom time of the plants. Each plot was monitored for a period of 10 minutes.

Plants were monitored in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. Results of the monitoring are shown below.

Table 1. Results from 4 years (2018-2022) – Number of butterflies per plant species.
Plant Common name 2018 2019 2021 2022 Total butterflies over 4 years
Eutrochium dubium coastal plain Joe Pye 127 345 257 177 906
Conoclinium coelestinum mist flower 29 191 186 289 695
Eutrochium purpureum 'Gateway' Gateway Joe Pye 40 181 258 214 693
Eurtrochium dubium 'Little Joe' Little Joe Joe Pye 51 134 254 250 689
Pycnanthemum incanum hoary mountain mint 55 191 147 58 451
Eutrochium fistulosum hollow stem Joe Pye 41 151 198 58 448
Pycnanthemum muticum clustered mountain mint 15 109 119 162 405
Pycnanthemum virginum Virginia mountain mint 32 147 114 83 376
Symphyotrichum laeve 'Bluebird' Bluebird smooth aster 46 104 130 88 368
Symphyotrichum laeve smooth aster 22 98 79 131 330
Phlox paniculata 'Jeana'* Jeana garden phlox 29 77 181 287
Eutrochium maculatum* spotted Joe pye 1 61 188 27 277
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium October Skies October Skies aromatic aster 9 145 77 37 268
Helianthus divaricatus woodland sunflower 18 23 142 82 265
Coreopsis tripteris tall tickseed 19 21 111 64 215
Liatris spicata blazing star 29 31 23 128 211
Eutrochium maculatum 'Bartered Bride' Bartered Bride Joe Pye 34 44 122 10 210
Symphyotrichum novi-belgii New York aster 124 83 207
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium aromatic aster 6 35 41 97 179
Vernonia glauca* upland ironweed 5 8 91 74 178
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium 'Raydon's Favorite' Raydon's Favorite aromatic aster 10 50 64 26 150
Phlox paniculata garden phlox 11 41 91 143
Symphyotrichum novae-anglae New England aster 42 75 22 139
Solidago rigida stiff goldenrod 5 40 55 36 136
Monarda fistulosa wild bergamot 23 22 25 63 133
Eupatorium hyssopifolium thoroughwort 30 6 52 88
Verbesina alternifolia wingstem 30 22 27 79
Solidago nemoralis gray goldenrod 1 27 25 24 77
Helenium autumnale* Helen's flower 16 27 29 72
Euthamia graminifolia flat-top goldenrod 13 7 52 72
Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks' Fireworks goldenrod 3 45 10 10 68
Veronicastrum virginicum Culver's root 7 24 17 11 59
Asclepias tuberosa butterfly weed 6 34 0 11 51
Coreopsis verticillata thread-leaf tickseed 6 17 6 11 40
Ratibida pinnata grayhead coneflower 20 7 8 35
Helianthus 'Lemon Queen'* Lemon Queen sunflower 33 0 0 33
Rudbeckia laciniata green-head coneflower 7 6 14 27
Asclepias syriaca common milkweed 7 18 0 25
Agastache foeniculum* anise hyssop 20 0 0 20
Doellingeria umbellata* flat topped aster 11 0 1 12
Solidago speciosa showy goldenrod 10 2 12
Cirsium discolor* field thistle 4 4

Table 2. Results from 4 years (2018-2022) – total number of butterflies by type of  butterfly
Type of butterfly 2018 2019 2021 2022 Total Butterflies over 4 years
Silver Spotted Skipper 250 704 1113 837 2904
Peck's Skipper 103 413 344 361 1221
Cabbage White 78 423 352 283 1136
Meadow Fritillary 32 95 376 351 854
Common Buckeye 27 222 97 179 525
Fiery Skipper 3 38 278 141 460
Pearl Crescent 21 109 120 143 393
Orange Sulfur 62 52 153 70 337
Clouded Sulfur 28 134 78 46 286
Monarch 38 97 72 77 284
Least Skipper 12 43 26 121 202
Painted Lady 12 92 5 3 112
Red Admiral 12 66 0 10 88
Variegated Fritillary 5 15 29 16 65
Silvery Checkerspot 9 0 1 50 60
Black Swallowtail 7 25 5 7 44
E. Tiger Swallowtail 4 13 1 21 39
Cloudless Sulfur 0 9 20 6 35
American Lady 2 22 3 1 28
Clouded Skipper 0 4 19 3 26
Gray Hairstreak 1 15 3 5 24
Eastern Comma 1 5 0 4 10
Great Spangled Frit 0 0 6 3 9
Question Mark 1 6 0 1 8
Eastern Tail Blue 3 1 0 4 8
Summer Azure 2 1 0 5 8
Silver bordered Frit 0 0 0 8 8
Red-banded Hairstreak 3 1 1 2 7
Red-spotted Purple 0 6 0 0 6
Vicerory 0 5 0 1 6
Tawny Emperor 1 1 0 3 5
Northern Pearly 0 0 1 2 3
White Hairstreak 0 1 1 0 2
Banded Hairstreak 0 1 0 1 2
Sleepy Orange 0 1 0 0 1
Aphrodite Fritillary 0 1 0 0 1
Wood Nymph 1 0 0 0 1
Coral Hairstreak 0 0 1 0 1
Striped Hairstreak 0 0 0 1 1
Spring Azure 0 0 0 1 1
Hackberry Emperor 0 0 0 1 1
Morning Cloak 0 0 0 1 1
American Snoutnose 0 5 0 0 0
Pipevine Swallowtail 0 0 0 0 0
Zebra Swallowtail 0 0 0 0 0
Spicebush Swallowtail 0 0 0 0 0
American Copper 0 0 0 0 0
Bronze Copper 0 0 0 0 0
June Hairstreak 0 0 0 0 0