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