7 Best Rudbeckia Varieties For Attracting Butterflies Old Gardeners Swear By
Attract butterflies with 7 Rudbeckia varieties seasoned gardeners trust. Learn which classic Black-Eyed Susans are proven pollinator magnets.
You can spend a fortune on fancy butterfly feeders, but nothing beats a patch of the right flowers buzzing with life on a late summer afternoon. If you want to see your garden truly come alive, planting what pollinators actually want is the only strategy that matters. And when it comes to attracting a riot of color on wings, few plants work harder than the humble Rudbeckia.
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Why Rudbeckia is a Butterfly Magnet in the Garden
A butterfly doesn’t see a flower the way we do. It sees a landing pad and a fuel station. Rudbeckia, or Black-Eyed Susans, are perfectly designed for this purpose.
The large, dark center is actually a dense cluster of hundreds of tiny individual flowers, called disc florets. Each one produces a small sip of nectar. This design means a butterfly can land once and drink from dozens of sources without moving, which is incredibly energy-efficient for them.
The bright yellow or orange petals, the ray florets, aren’t just for show. They act like a giant, colorful billboard, screaming "nectar here!" to butterflies from a distance. The combination of a high-visibility landing strip and a dense, easy-access nectar source is what makes Rudbeckia a non-negotiable plant in any pollinator garden.
Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’: A Timeless Garden Classic
‘Goldsturm’ is the plant you see in just about every established garden, and for good reason. It’s the definition of reliable. It comes back year after year, blooms for months on end, and asks for very little in return.
For a hobby farmer with limited time, reliability is gold. You plant ‘Goldsturm’ once and it forms a dependable, uniform clump that chokes out weeds and provides a consistent nectar source from mid-summer until the first frost. Its predictable two-foot height makes it easy to place in a border without it flopping over or swallowing its neighbors.
The tradeoff for this dependability is that it’s not the most unique flower on the block. But its value isn’t in novelty; it’s in performance. ‘Goldsturm’ is the workhorse variety that forms the backbone of a butterfly garden, ensuring there’s always something on the menu.
Gloriosa Daisy: Large Flowers for Large Butterflies
Not all butterflies are the same size. Small skippers are happy on tiny flowers, but a big Eastern Tiger Swallowtail needs a more substantial platform to land on. This is where Gloriosa Daisies (Rudbeckia hirta) shine.
These plants produce massive blooms, often six inches across, on sturdy stems. The sheer size of the flower head provides a stable, inviting perch for large-bodied butterflies like Monarchs, Swallowtails, and Fritillaries. They can settle in and feed without getting tossed around by the wind.
Keep in mind that many Gloriosa varieties are treated as annuals or short-lived perennials in colder climates. You might be replanting them every year or two. The tradeoff is a bit more work for a huge visual impact and a specific appeal to the largest, most dramatic butterflies.
Cherokee Sunset: Rich Tones Attract Swallowtails
While the classic yellow is great, butterflies are also attracted to other colors, especially reds and oranges. The ‘Cherokee Sunset’ mix offers a stunning range of bronze, mahogany, red, and orange tones, often with double or semi-double blooms.
These deeper, richer colors are particularly attractive to Swallowtail butterflies. If you’re hoping to draw in more Black or Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, planting a patch of ‘Cherokee Sunset’ is a smart move. The varied flower forms also add a completely different texture to the garden.
The one thing to watch with highly double flowers is nectar access. Sometimes, the extra petals can make it harder for pollinators to reach the nectar-rich center. However, ‘Cherokee Sunset’ typically has enough semi-double forms that it provides both unique color attraction and sufficient food sources, making it a worthy addition.
Rudbeckia ‘Indian Summer’: A Late-Season Favorite
As summer wanes and other flowers start to fade, the garden can become a bit of a food desert for pollinators. This is a critical time, especially for migrating Monarchs bulking up for their long journey south. ‘Indian Summer’ is the answer to this late-season gap.
This variety is known for its exceptionally long bloom time, pushing out huge, golden-yellow flowers well into the autumn. While other plants are shutting down, ‘Indian Summer’ is hitting its stride. Planting it ensures your garden’s buffet stays open late into the season.
Like the Gloriosa Daisy, it’s often grown as a tender perennial or annual, but its performance is so strong that it’s worth the effort of replanting. Its primary role is as a crucial late-season fuel stop, extending your garden’s value to pollinators when they need it most.
‘Henry Eilers’: A Coneflower with Unique Petals
At first glance, ‘Henry Eilers’ doesn’t look like a typical Rudbeckia. Instead of flat, wide petals, it has fine, quilled petals that give the flower a delicate, starburst appearance. This unique structure changes how insects interact with it.
The open, airy form allows smaller bees and butterflies easy access to the central cone. It adds a completely different texture and form to the garden, breaking up the visual monotony of endless daisy-like shapes. It’s a fantastic choice for adding subtle variety without sacrificing pollinator appeal.
This is a true perennial that is tall, sturdy, and won’t need staking. ‘Henry Eilers’ is the perfect choice for someone wanting the reliability of a native cultivar but with a unique, refined look. It proves that a pollinator plant can be both beautiful and architecturally interesting.
Rudbeckia triloba: A Prolific Nectar Source
While some varieties offer large, single flowers, Rudbeckia triloba, or Brown-Eyed Susan, takes a different approach. It produces an absolute profusion of smaller, one-to-two-inch flowers on tall, branching stems. The effect is less of a single specimen and more of a cloud of golden yellow.
For pollinators, this is a bonanza. A single plant offers hundreds of individual nectar sources. It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet that attracts a huge diversity of pollinators, from tiny native bees to a wide range of butterflies.
The main consideration here is its tendency to self-seed enthusiastically. In a formal bed, this can be a nuisance. But in a wilder, more naturalistic part of the property, it’s a blessing, as it will happily fill in gaps with free, hardworking plants. Rudbeckia triloba is the best choice for maximizing the sheer quantity of nectar available in a small space.
Rudbeckia maxima: A Towering Pollinator Perch
If you have the space, Rudbeckia maxima is a showstopper. This plant is a giant, sending up flower stalks that can reach five to seven feet tall from a basal clump of huge, waxy, blue-green leaves. The flowers themselves are classic yellow with an exceptionally tall, dark brown cone.
The height is its superpower. The flowers serve as high-altitude landing pads, making them easily visible to passing butterflies and giving the insects a safe place to perch and bask in the sun, away from ground-level predators. After the petals fall, the seed heads provide food for goldfinches all winter.
This is not a plant for a small, tidy border. It needs room to establish its basal foliage and send up its towering stalks. Rudbeckia maxima serves as a structural, multi-purpose giant, offering nectar up high, seeds for birds, and a dramatic vertical element in the back of a large garden bed.
Ultimately, building a successful butterfly garden isn’t about finding one perfect plant, but about layering different varieties. By choosing Rudbeckias with different sizes, bloom times, and flower structures, you create a more resilient and attractive habitat. You’re not just planting flowers; you’re building a full-season ecosystem that will reward you with constant activity from early summer until the first hard frost.
