Gardening to Attract Butterflies

Butterflies

Butterflies bring a garden alive with extra colour and interest but, unfortunately, over the last few decades, butterfly populations have been dramatically reduced, basically because of overuse of pesticides, removal of their natural habitat and just our general gardening techniques and practices.

With very little effort you can easily encourage butterflies to your garden and you don't have to fill the garden full of stinging nettles and couch grass.

To begin, butterflies will visit and stay if they are given the essentials of life. Their requirements are not much different than our own: a variety of plants for food and shelter, some moisture and, most importantly, an absence of pesticides.

Let us be very clear here, butterfly larvae are ugly caterpillars that eat plants. Eat is perhaps a mild word for what these beautiful, multi-legged predators do to plants – ravage is closer to the truth.

A single caterpillar can strip a plant almost overnight. Caterpillars will shed their skin 4 to 6 times as they grow large enough to pupate into a butterfly and when big enough, it will spin a hard chrysalis and immobilise itself on the host plant until it is ready to emerge as a butterfly.

Fortunately, butterfly larvae like really weedy plants and as long as there is a good supply of these plants, it is unlikely that they will be attracted to the good plants in your garden. However, unless you choose to grow these plants (most of which we normally consider as weeds) for larvae food, you won’t have the ensuing butterflies.

Do not pick only one type of plant to grow in your garden. Butterfly larvae like a variety of food, the same as we do, (although some species only live on specific plants), and the more kinds of plant you have, the more likely it is that you will successfully attract these lovely insects. Encourage the plants to self sow and give you a small weedy section at the back, or in a corner of your garden.

If you have a corner of your garden to donate to science and preserving butterfly life consider planting some of the butterflies favourite plants. These will keep the larvae happy and growing well. Native wild plants are ideal but these may be considered too much like weeds for the average gardener and unless planted in large blocks, will probably do very little anyway. There are other ways of attracting the butterfly. Grow nectar rich plants like Sedum spectabile or the butterfly bushBuddleia davidii.

As well as food, butterflies require a regular source of water - all living things require water. They prefer to drink from very moist soil, so the best source for them is a muddy puddle or a pond, as long as there are plenty of very shallow areas with rocks or plants to give them access to the water. If neither of these is available, sink a shallow but wide dish – the plastic top from a dustbin is ideal – into the soil and fill it up with the excavated soil. Keep this dish mud-puddled by topping up with water. In this way, the insect gets the moisture it needs while also obtaining needed minerals. Try to place the dish in a sunny spot.

To bring in the butterflies in droves is as simple as encouraging these weeds to grow and providing a source of water.

If you only see one or two caterpillars eating a good plant, don’t kill them. Instead, try moving them to a more weedy specimen. In this way, both your plant and the caterpillar get to light up your life later in the gardening season.

The More Common British Butterflies that you might see in your garden:

Common Name

Latin Name

Brimstone

Gonepteryx rhamni

Clouded Yellow

Colias croceus

Comma

Polygonia c-album

Common Blue

Polyommatus icarus

Dingy Skipper

Erynnis tages

Gatekeeper

Pyronia tithonus

Green Hairstreak

Callophrys rubi

Green-viened White

Pieris napi

Holly Blue

Celastrina argiolus

Large Heath

Coenonympha tullia

Large Skipper

Ochlodes venata

Large Tortoiseshell

Nymphalis polychloros

Large White

Pieris brassicae

Marsh Fritillary

Euphydryas aurinia

Meadow Brown

Maniola jurtina

Northern Brown

Argus Aricia artaxerxes

Orange-Tip

Anthocharis cardamines

Painted Lady

Cynthia cardui

Peacock

Inachis io

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Boloria euphrosyne

Purple Hairstreak

Quercusia quercus

Red Admiral

Vanessa atalanta

Silver-studded Blue

Plebejus argus

Small Blue

Cupido minimus

Small Copper

Lycaena phlaeas

Small Heath

Coenonympha pamphilus

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Boloria selene

Small Tortoiseshell

Aglais urticae

Small White

Pieris rapae

Speckled Wood

Pararge aegeria

Wall

Lasiommata megera

Below is List of Plants Suitable for Attracting Butterflies

Please Note: The common names that are used are familiar in the UK but may vary for other countries.

Botanical Name

Common Name/s

Abelia chinensis

Abelia

Abelia grandiflora syn. A. rupestris

Glossy Abelia

Achillea sp.

Common Yarrow

Agastache sp.

?

Anthemis sp.

Daisies

Golden Marguerite

Marguerite Daisy

Marguerites

Ox-Eye Chamomile

Arrhenatherum elatius subsp. bulbosum 'Variegatum'

Bulbous oat grass

Oat Grass

Artemesia 'Powis Castle'

Mugwort

Sagebrush

Wormwood

Asclepias

Milkweed

Silkweed

Asclepias Tuberosa

Butterfly Weed

Baptisia australis

False Indigo

Wild Indigo

Bignonia (syn. Doxantha) capreolata

Crossvine

Buddleja (syn. Buddleia) davidii

Buddleia

Butterfly Bush

Callicarpa sp.

Beauty Berry

Campsis radicans 'Mme. Galen'

Trumpet Creeper

Trumpet Vine

Coreopsis Auriculata

Coreopsis tinctoria

Coreopsis

Tickseed

Cosmos bipinnatus 'Sensation'

Common Cosmos

Cosmos

Cotoneaster sp.

Cotoneaster

Cupressocyparis leylandii

Cypress

Leyland Cypress

Echinacea sp.

Coneflower

Echium plantagineum

Echium

 Elaeagnus pungens

Elaeagnus

Gaillardia Grandiflora

Blanketflower

Gelsemium sempervirens

Evening Trumpet

Yellow Jasmine

Gilia achilleifolia

G. capitulata

G. tricolour

Scarlet Gilia

Queen Anne's Thimbles

Birds Eyes

Heuchera sanguinea

Coral Bells

Coral Flower

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Hawaiian Hibiscus

Hibiscus

Chinese Hibiscus

Rose of China

Hibiscus syriacus

Rose of Sharon

Hypericum sp.

Aaron's beard

Marsh Hypericum

Rose of Sharon

St. John's Wort

Hypoestes phyllostachya

Freckle Face

Measles Plant

Polka-Dot Plant

Ribbon Bush

Ilex cornuta 'Burfordii Nana'

Horned Holly

Ilex hybrida 'Nellie R. Stevens'

Nellie R. Stevens Holly

Ilex sp.

Holly

Kniphofia sp.

Red Hot Poker

Torch Lily

Lantana sp.

Lantana

Lavandula angustifolia

L. stoechas

Lavender

French Lavender

Lavatera sp.

Mallow

Ligustrum

Japanese Privet

Privet

Chinese Variegated Privet

Liriope muscari 'Big Blue'

Lily Turf

Lobelia cardinalis

Cardinal Flower

Lobularia maritima

Alyssum

Sweet Alyssum

Lonicera spp

Honeysuckles

Lycium barbarum

Chinese Box Thorn

Monarda sp.

Bergamot

Nandina domestica

Heavenly Bamboo

Nicotiana sp.

Tobacco Plant

Flowering Tobacco

Nicotiana

Ophiopogan japonicus

Lily Turf

Osmanthus fragrans

Fragrant Olive

Sweet Tea

Penstemon sp.

Beard Tongue

Penstemon

Pentas lanceolata

Pentas carnea

Egyptian Star Cluster

Pentas

Star Clusters

Perovskia

Physostegia viginiana

Obedient Plant

False Dragon Head

Punica granatum

Pomegranate

Pyracantha

Pyracantha

Firethorn

Rhaphiolepis sp.

Indian Hawthorn

Rudbeckia columnifera

Rudbeckia fulgida

Rudbeckia purpurea (see Echinacea purpurea)

Coneflowers

Black-Eyed Susan

Orange Coneflower

Yellow Coneflower

Salvia sp.

Sage

Common Sage

Jim Sage

Jupiters Distaff

Meadow Clary

Meadow Sage

Mealy Sage

Mexican Bush

Pineapple Sage

Texas Sage

Salvia splendens 'St. John's Fire'

Red Salvia

Scabiosa columbaria 'Butterfly Blue'

Pincushion Flower

Scabiosa

Sedum spectabile

Ice Plant

Silphium laciniatum

Compass Plant

Pilot Plant

Polar Plant

Spirea sp.

Bridal Wreath

Foam of May

Spirea

Stachys officinalis (aslo S. Betonica officinalis )

Betony

Hedge Nettle

Woundwort

 Symphoricarpos orbiculatus

Indian Currant

Snowberry

Tecoma capensis (also as Tecomaria capensis )

Cape Honeysuckle

 Teucrium fruticans 'Azureum'

Shrubby Germander

Tree Germander

Thymus sp.

Thyme

Lemon Scented Thyme

Caraway Thyme

Garden Thyme

Verbascum phoeniceum

Purple Mulliem

Viburnum sp.

Snowball Bush

Sheepberry

Southern Arrow-wood

Viburnum

Weigela sp.

Weigela

Wisteria sp.

Chinese Wistaria

Wisteria

 


© copyright 1999, P. A. Owen

UK gardening help and assistance