The table calls it a tie: Black‑eyed Susan and Mexican Sunflower share the crown at 100 and 100 of 100, a gap smaller than the data can honestly split.
Every flower here is scored by the same 5 published rules, using one open table of 85 flowers. No taste, no sponsors: tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made it.
The picks
The flowers that won The top score, plus the qualifier that asks least of you.
100 100 CO-WINNER CO-WINNER YFG INDEX Wildlife table breadth: 4 documented · Season-long bloom: 4 months · Cold-zone reach: 3 to 8
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
no flaw on record
Deer: seldom damaged (Rutgers B)
100 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 30 / 30 4 documented
Season-long bloom 25 / 25 4 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 3 to 8
Color range 15 / 15 4 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
100 100 CO-WINNER CO-WINNER YFG INDEX Wildlife table breadth: 4 documented · Season-long bloom: 4 months · Cold-zone reach: 2 to 11
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
no vase data in the postharvest literature
100 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 30 / 30 4 documented
Season-long bloom 25 / 25 4 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 2 to 11
Color range 15 / 15 4 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Also great Close behind on points. Neither beats the winner overall, but each is the better answer in a garden the winner would not suit.
100 100 ALSO GREAT ALSO GREAT YFG INDEX Wildlife table breadth: 4 documented · Season-long bloom: 5 months · Cold-zone reach: 2 to 11
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
toxic to cats
Deer: sometimes eaten (Rutgers C) Not for cat households
100 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 30 / 30 4 documented
Season-long bloom 25 / 25 5 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 2 to 11
Color range 15 / 15 6 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
100 100 ALSO GREAT ALSO GREAT YFG INDEX Wildlife table breadth: 4 documented · Season-long bloom: 6 months · Cold-zone reach: 2 to 10
Flaws, not dealbreakers:
no flaw on record
Deer: seldom damaged (Rutgers B)
100 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 30 / 30 4 documented
Season-long bloom 25 / 25 6 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 2 to 10
Color range 15 / 15 3 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
The protocol
How the score is built 5 rules, 100 points, no opinions. Every line reads one field of the table.
Wildlife table breadth 30 points flowers feeding 4+ documented groups anchor a whole habitat Read from: pollinator groups.
Season-long bloom 25 points migration lasts months, not a week Read from: the months it is in bloom.
Cold-zone reach 15 points Read straight from the zones it survives.
Color range 15 points Read straight from flower color.
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 points Read straight from how much upkeep extension guides report.
Not ranked here: no whitelisted source documents butterfly visitation. Scores are never sponsored
and never sold. The full method ↗
The leaderboard
The top ten The 10 highest of 55 that qualified. Tap any score to open the lines behind it.
1 100 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 30 / 30 4 documented
Season-long bloom 25 / 25 4 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 3 to 8
Color range 15 / 15 4 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
1 100 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 30 / 30 4 documented
Season-long bloom 25 / 25 4 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 2 to 11
Color range 15 / 15 4 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
1 100 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 30 / 30 4 documented
Season-long bloom 25 / 25 5 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 2 to 11
Color range 15 / 15 6 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
1 100 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 30 / 30 4 documented
Season-long bloom 25 / 25 6 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 2 to 10
Color range 15 / 15 3 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
5 94 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 30 / 30 4 documented
Season-long bloom 19 / 25 3 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 3 to 8
Color range 15 / 15 9 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
5 94 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 24 / 30 3 documented
Season-long bloom 25 / 25 6 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 3 to 9
Color range 15 / 15 4 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
5 94 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 24 / 30 3 documented
Season-long bloom 25 / 25 5 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 2 to 11
Color range 15 / 15 6 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
5 94 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 24 / 30 3 documented
Season-long bloom 25 / 25 5 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 4 to 9
Color range 15 / 15 3 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
9 93 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 30 / 30 5 documented
Season-long bloom 25 / 25 5 months
Cold-zone reach 15 / 15 2 to 11
Color range 15 / 15 9 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 8 / 15 medium
10 90 / 100 tap for the breakdown Wildlife table breadth 30 / 30 4 documented
Season-long bloom 19 / 25 3 months
Cold-zone reach 11 / 15 5 to 8
Color range 15 / 15 8 documented
Set-and-forget upkeep 15 / 15 low
Considered, not chosen Not qualifying is a verdict too: the table simply says this job is not theirs.
no whitelisted source documents butterfly visitation Tulips, Hydrangea macrophylla, Irises and 27 more
The winner's badge Generated by the ranking above, and re-scored whenever the table changes.
Black‑eyed Susan
The badge is generated by this ranking, not awarded by hand. When the
table changes, it re-scores itself.
100 100 FOR BUTTERFLIES FOR BUTTERFLIES YFG INDEX · WINNER How we rank
We keep one table of 85 flowers,
with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is
a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made
it. A flower that does not fit a job is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is
named. Nothing here is sponsored, and no score can be bought. When the table changes, every
score and stamp updates itself.
The full method ↗
