Gardens are places for people to enjoy, but they also provide essential homes for butterflies and moths.

Butterflies are far less common now that they were fifty years ago and you don’t have to look hard to discover why.  Flowery meadows filled with butterflies were once commonplace, but now they are little more than a distant memory.  Since the 1940s 97% of these meadows have been destroyed.  Even common butterflies have lost out as hedges and field boundaries rich in wild flowers and grasses have gone under the plough.

What can you do about it?

Anyone with a garden, no matter what the size, can help save butterflies and moths and other wildlife.  In the UK our gardens cover two million acres of land – that is 15 million gardens - each of which can be a miniature reserve for butterflies and moths.

Flowers for Butterflies

Butterflies visit gardens to drink nectar from the flowers.  Many good nectar plants are easy to grow in your garden, so make it a welcome place for passing butterflies.

Some tips on how to attract butterflies

Prune your Buddleia vigorously in March to ensure late flowering

• Grow flowers in sunny areas, as butterflies seek out the warmest parts of the garden.
• The greater the variety of plants that you grow the more butterflies will visit.
• Avoid buying hybrid plants, because they will infertile and won’t produce nectar.

Some flowers that attract butterflies

Aubretia,  Buddleia,  Bugle,  Candytuft,  Catmint,  Evening Primrose,  Forget-me-not,  Hebe,  Helichrysum,  Heliotrope,  Honesty,  Honeysuckle,  Ice Plant (Sedum), Ivy, 

Knapweed,  Lavender,  Lilac,  Lobelia,  Marguerite,  Marigold,  Marjoram,  Michaelmas Daisy,  Mint,  Pansy,  Phlox,  Primrose,  Privet,  Purple Loosetrife,

Red Valerian,  Scabious,  Sweet Rocket,  Sweet William,  Thyme  & Wallflower.

Keep us informed

If you have found other plants in your garden attracting butterflies send us an email and let us know what they are.

Food plants for caterpillars

Red Admiral, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell:       Nettle

Painted Lady:                                                    Thistle

Large and Small White:                                     Nasturtium, Cabbage

Holly Blue:                                                        Holly, Ivy

Brimstone:                                                        Alder Buckthorn, Buckthorn

Common Blue:                                                  Birdsfoot Trefoil, Black Medick

Orange Tip, Green-veined White:                      Garlic Mustard, Cuckooflower

Comma                                                            Hop

For additional information on CULTIVATING AND BREEDING BUTTERFLIES IN THE GARDEN