Butterfly Conservation saving butterflies, moths and their habitats
Gardening for Butterflies and Moths
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 be 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
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 do not 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.
