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| Butterflies in your garden |
No matter how large or small your garden may be, if it contains the right plants and flowers, it can easily become a magnet for many species of butterfly.
Butterflies visit gardens that contain flowers which provide a rich source or nectar. Lots of plant varieties help to attract different species throughout the year. Nectar plants should be planted in sunny, sheltered areas.
Common garden butterflies such as Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral love to feed on the flowers pf Buddleia, Lilac, Ice Plant, Marjoram,
and Michaelmas Daisies. In the autumn, flowering Ivy may be covered in Red Admiral butterflies.
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Don't use insecticides or pesticides
Using insecticides and pesticides in your garden is probably the worst thing you can do for butterflies and other wildlife. They not only kill butterflies but other beneficial insects such as ladybirds and spiders which are also eaten by birds and hedgehogs.
Go wild
Allow if you have space for some areas of your garden to go wild. Common Nettles are great for the Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Red Admiral and Peacock while grasses are caterpillar food for Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Small Heath and Ringlet. You could also create a small meadow and grow native wild flowers such as Common Bird's-foot Trefoil to attract the Common Blue. Native trees and shrubs are also important for our butterflies. Try Oak for Purple Hairstreak and Elm for White-letter Hairstreak.
Protect your cabbages
If you grow cabbages and suffer from the damage caused by the caterpillars of the Large White and Small White butterflies feeding on the leaves, you could cover your cabbages with a fine netting and grow Nasturtiums as an alternative food plant for these butterflies, saving your cabbages and our butterflies without pollution the environment with pesticides and chemicals.
Say no to peat compost
Scarce habitats are also being destroyed by peat extraction. This has led to massive declines in population and the habitat needed for the survival of the Large Heath butterfly. There are plenty of excellent alternatives to peat compost.
Gardens are for plants... not cars!!
Over the last 10 to 15 years, thousands of acres of gardens have been lost under block paving in Britain. Most housing estates today have many houses with no front garden. The garden has been replaced by a characterless car park which provides very little for our urban wildlife. Not only that but the surface run-off may cause flooding following heavy rainfall.
Bring back the lawn and floral border... and back will come our butterflies... with the added benefit that your property is less likely to flood!!
Never too small
No matter how large or small your garden may be, if it contains the right plants and flowers, it can easily become a magnet for many species. Ideally, warm, sunny, sheltered spots where a variety of good nectar plants grow are best. |
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| Buddleia davidii - The Butterfly Bush |
| Thriving in almost any soil in full sun, the majority of Buddleia species flower from July to September. Buddleia davidii is the most attractive for butterflies. The flower stalks (panicles) are often fragrant. Moths will also visit Buddleia at night. |
Buddleia davidii
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Will only flower on the new growth made in the current year. To encourage flowering prune the plant back to around 30cm from the base in early spring to produce many flowering shoots. Prune off all the dead and fading flowers to extend the flowering season. |
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Common Name |
flower colour |
flower season |
| Buddleia davidii |
African Queen |
deep purple |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Beijing |
blueish pink |
August to October |
| Buddleia davidii |
Black knight |
deep violet |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Blue Horizon |
lavender blue |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Border Beauty |
deep crimson |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Butterfly Ball |
china blue |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Dartmoor |
magenta |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Darts Ornamental White |
white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Darts Pappillon Blue |
blue |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Dubonnet |
deep purple |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Empire Blue |
violet blue |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Fascinating |
vivid lilac pink |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Flaming Violet |
violet |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Fortune |
lilac |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Glasnevin |
china blue |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Gonglepod |
lilac |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Harlequin |
reddish purple |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
lle de France |
blue violet |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Les Kneale |
pale lilac white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Masqerade |
white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Naho Blue |
pale blue |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Naho Petitte Indigo |
indigo |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Naho Petitte Purple (NPP) |
purple |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
NPP var. nanhoensis |
pale mauve |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
NPP var. nanhoensis alb |
white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
NPP var. nanhoesnsis blue |
blue mauve |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Naho White |
white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Orchid Beauty |
pale lavender blue |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Peace |
white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Pink Pearl |
lilac pink |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Pink Perfection |
deep pink |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Pixie Blue |
pale blue |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Pixie Red |
purple red |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Pixie White |
white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Purple Prince |
purple |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Purple Rain |
purple |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Royal purple |
lilac purple |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Royal Red |
red purple |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Southcombe splendour |
blue |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Summer beauty |
pinl |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Variegata |
blue |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
White Ball |
white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
White Bouquet |
creamy white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
White Butterfly |
white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
White Cloud |
white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
White Harlequin |
creamy white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
White Profusion |
white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
White Wings |
creamy white |
July to August |
| Buddleia davidii |
Wind Tor |
pale blue |
July to August |
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| Blackthorn |
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| Buckthorn |
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| Bugle |
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| Cuckoo flower |
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| Dog Violet |
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| Erigeron |
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| Forget-me-not |
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| Honesty |
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| Lilac |
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| Orange Hawkweed |
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| Red Campion |
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| Wallflower |
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| Willow |
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| Bird's-foot Trefoil |
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| Field Scabious |
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| Lavender |
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| Kidney Vetch |
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| Knapweed |
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| Marjoram |
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| Purple Loosestrife |
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| Red Valerian |
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| Sheep's Sorrel |
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| Sweet William |
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| Wild Strawberry |
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| Buddleia |
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Buddleia davidii |
| Evening Primrose |
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| Fleabane |
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| Ice plant |
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| Knapweed |
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| Michaelmas Daisy |
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| Purple Loosestrife |
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| Red Valerian |
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| Verbena Bonariensis |
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| Wild Ivy |
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| Aubretia |
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| French Marigold |
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| Golden Rod |
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| Honesty |
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| Mignonette |
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| Mint |
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| Primrose |
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| Sweet Rocket |
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| Thyme |
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| Violet |
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| Wallflower |
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