© 2008-09 Butterfly Corner

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Gardening for Butterflies

I have always grown plants in my garden that attract butterflies such as Buddleia, Sedum and Michaelmas Daisies. As I have become more interested in the different butterflies I started recording the ones visiting my garden. The first year I had 9 different species - Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Red Admiral, Green-veined White, Small White, Large White, Holly Blue, Meadow Brown and Speckled Wood.

I have a cottage garden – not wild and not formal, but definitely a bit messy in places, which is great for wildlife. I decided in 2007 that any future plants that I buy or grow should be suitable for encouraging wildlife and in particular Butterflies and Bees.

To encourage butterflies I would need a good selection of nectar plants which are placed in a sheltered sunny aspect of the garden. Butterflies need a certain amount of warmth, usually above 13 degrees, before they fly. As soon as they become active they will search for the warmest, sunniest, sheltered spot and then look for a nectar source, so combining the two is important. Different areas of the garden will have suitable areas as the sun moves around the house.

My most successful planting is as follows:

It is also important to have a corner of your garden with some native plants, especially stinging nettles for the caterpillars of some butterflies. I also grow a few plants of broccoli and Nasturtiums. This year I had a lot of Large White caterpillars on my broccoli plants, but my Nasturtiums were left to flower undisturbed.

If you can garden organically then all the better, but most importantly do not use any sort of pesticides.

In 2008 I added five more butterflies to my garden list, these were Orange Tip, Comma, Gatekeeper, Painted Lady and Small Copper, but unfortunately I lost one, my most common garden butterfly the Small Tortoiseshell, which is usually seen from April through to October. I have not seen one this year either in my garden or on my many walks through the countryside.

        Painting of a ‘butterfly garden’                       Julie sketching butterflies

This winter I am looking at expanding my herb area with more plants grown from seed, to include Fennel, Thyme, Apple Mint, Angelica and Borage (for the bees) Then growing more grasses suitable for the laying of eggs by the butterflies, such as Molina grass and Deschampsia grass  (both of these I saw at the  RHS Tatton show). I then need to research further the plants needed for caterpillars and see if I can grow these in the wilder corner of the garden.