Butterflies

Just listening to Radio 4 going on about butterflies -

I very rarely have butterflies in my garden, but when I was a child we saw them regularly - Scarlet Admirals, Peacocks, China Blues etc.

Is there away to foster the resurgence of butterflies in domestic gardens? I'm not thinking of plants like buddleia and monarda- I have them and butterflies never come near them - but more the possibility of growing sacrificial host plants for the eggs/caterpillars, and perhaps buying those in?

Any ideas?

 

Hi, well I have been trying to think along these lines too. Went to Glamis castle in Scotland last week. They had a wonderfully stocked garden, with very well established plants.....covered in butterflies and bees....never quite seen as many in one place. Sedum Spectabalis Autumn Joy was definetely the busiest of all of their plants, some of them had spread out to a couple of metres in diameter, and the whole thing was littered with bees and butterflies. It was repeat planted at 5 metre intervals across their borders. I can't say I 'm familiar with many of the butterflies.....noticed lots of peacocks as we have always had these in our garden....and another one had jagged wing edges (possibly comma?), not too sure on that one. Took some photo's of them, could upload them later if you were interested.

This website is quite good, it lists their food types if you're interested.

British Butterflies in the Garden

 

Hi Madahlia

If you have the space, I believe that one of the best things you can do is to leave a wild patch in your garden which is filled with stinging nettles! Many butterflies seem to like laying their eggs on them.

The pretty little Holly Blues need both holly and ivy at different times of the year; I have a patch of wild ivy at the bottom of my garden and my neighbour has a holly bush - so we always have lots of blues. When the ivy is in flower, as it is now, its rather sour-smelling blooms seem to be irresistible to adult Red Admirals.

I presume you're not interested in increasing your stock of cabbage whites?? They adore nasturtiums for egg-laying, as I have found to my cost.

As far as adult insects go, I have planted many things which butterflies are supposed to like but unfortunately they don't seem to read the literature. They're not particularly impressed by buddlejas and sedums in my garden. One thing I've found to be universally popular with bees, butterflies and hoverflies alike is the perennial sunflower 'Helianthus Lemon Queen'. It's in bloom now and is full of bees which seem to get quite besotted by it. I often find them asleep in the flowers. Butterflies like it too.

It's a good idea to leave some water out for butterflies too. If you can stop the sparrows from sloshing it everywhere.

 

Seems to be a lot of trial and error and I guess different factors affecting them? The sedums we have don't seem to attract many in our garden....yet they were absolutely covered at Glamis. We also back onto fields and right up to our low fence boundary there is a large area of stinging nettles which has been naturalised for a good few years but it never seems to attract anything, but the two buddleja's either side of the garden attract the butterflies on a hot sunny day....the bush looks like it's moving....just a pity they're now so high I can't see them close enough :P And I definitely know what you mean with those pesky cabbage whites on my nasturtiums....although so far they haven't been too much of a problem.

ClaraLou the 'Helianthus Lemon Queen' is lovely....one for my list I'm sure this was featured on the last gardeners world....it was being moved if I remember correctly.

 

I don't think you would see adult butterflies lingering in the nettles, CosmosGuy, because as far as I know they're attractive only as places to lay eggs and as food plants for the developing caterpillars. 'Lemon Queen' is worth having because it flowers late and provides a big splash of colour right through until the frosts. The only snag is keeping the slugs and snails off young plants in the spring. Other than that, the plant is as tough as old boots!

 

I've got plenty of the recommended plants, just there are no butterflies living in my suburb!
I'd be very happy to have a patch of nettles (perhaps safely confined in a large pot) or nasturtiums planted solely as host plants.

But if there's no butterflies.........there's no eggs...........and no caterpillars! Duh!

If eggs or caterpillars were imported from somewhere would they be likely to thrive? Can you buy them at the appropriate time of year on the web?

 

SPRING and SUMMER EGGS and LARVAE Order now for supply in season


Well, that was easy to answer!

Which would be the best ones to get? The ones that are indigenous to where I live, but don't live there any more?

 

I don't know how old that website is & I can't find an address or phone number on it but they've been closed down for years. It was an insect & silkworm farm near here. I would e mail them before parting with any money. Maybe they are sales only now?

Used to love taking the kids round the place.

 

All the butterflies have moved to our local sand dunes.

I kid you not, there are millions down there, all sorts of different kinds too, ones that I've never seen elsewhere.

The dunes are full of all sorts of wild flowers, and having marsh conditions in the troughs, very dry conditions, sheltered spots and exposed spots, and everything in between, means that a very diverse range of things grow down there, and thus feed things.

How that translates to the domestic garden is another issue though. We can't all create a diverse natural environment I guess.

I have read a few articles on the subject. Apparently where a lot of people go wrong, is they plant lots of different butterfly feeding plants close together. Apparently studies have found the butterflies are more attracted to large clumps of the same species, possibly because their eye sight is poor, possibly because the smell of one species masks the smell of another, maybe a combination of factors.

 

Just thought I'd share the few pics I took at Glamis castle. I think it's a red admiral, peacock and the last one a comma?

 

Spot on CG

Ivy provides a good source of late nectar for allsorts of insects in october time.

Nettles are also good habitat for Magpie Moths.

 

Ok, I'm still fairly new to this so sorry for sounding stupid lol. I've heard that ivy do flower, but all the ones I've seen just seem to be foliage and I've never seen any flowers. Do they have to be very well established to flower, or is it only certain types that will?

 

Yes, definitely a comma in that last pic. If you look on the undersides of the wings, you'll see a perfect white comma - hence the name.

 

A really pretty one, that really caught my eye I'd never seen it before!! I'm guessing they are fairly common?