Butterfly effect
Best plants for a flutter
WE all get in a flutter over butterflies and there are ways to attract the fabulous insects.
Like bees, they are fussy. They are interested only in nectar-rich flowers, preferring blue, purple, pink and yellow blooms. Most hate red.
Butterflies are poor fliers and more likely to stay and feed in a warm, sheltered and sunny garden.
So when planting their favourite plants put them in small groups so they can visit one plant after another.
A multi-coloured border, with flowers appearing from early spring to late autumn, will support the broadest range of butterfly species.
Butterflies are also poor sighted so they like seeing flowers from a distance without wasting energy looking elsewhere for find food. So what do you plant? Popular are nectar-rich shrubs such as buddleja, hebe, lavender and honeysuckle.
Perennials such as cone flowers, yarrow, asters, pinks and statice are also liked by butterflies.
Night-scented stock seeds scattered in-between will give a sweet summer snack for night-flying moths.
Bask
At the end of summer, butterflies will feed on late-blooming asters and sedums and search out sugary liquids secreted by rotting fruit.
Flowers are where butterflies can rest and refuel. The most visited borders are ones with plants with a range of flower shapes, as some offer more easy access to sugary nectar.
Some of the best butterfly blooms are flat daisy-like flowers, such as coreopsis, which act as a landing pad.
Long, tapered and lipped and bellshaped blooms such as liatris, penstemons and salvia and those with a small tubular centre such as verbena bonariensis, allow butterflies to suck the nectar with their tube-like tongues.
Butterflies are cold-blooded and become active when temperatures reach 23C. Paving close to borders where they can bask and warm up will help on cooler summer days.
Sinking buckets of nettles near butterfly borders where they can lay their eggs will help too. The caterpillars that hatch will feed on the nettle leaves. Many butterflies need winter shelter and hibernate under logs in long grass or even in the shed. So don’t be too keen to tidy the garden.