Thank you Jim - it took me back to when I had a garden running down to a stream, the other side of which was a water-meadow full of Lady's Smock - it was such a picture at this time of year and the butterflies were magical
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I saw my first orange tip of this spring on some Jack by the Hedge while out for a walk a few weeks ago I've got lots of Hesperis in the garden but no signs of orange tips here - I shall endeavour to grow Jack by the Hedge as well.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
you wan't have to endeavour too hard it's very easy but very shallow rooted so easy to pull up if you think it's getting out of hand. It adds an extra note to a salad chopped up, should you be in need of something extra with your lettuce.
The Orange Tip is such a beautiful butterfly, quite possibly my favourite native British species. When you get close to a newly emerged specimen the green marbling on the underside of the hindwing is awesome.
The larval food plant debate is interesting because alongside the native plant species that you listed above the Butterfly Conservation Trust website includes this comment: "In addition it lays its eggs on Honesty (Lunaria annua) and Dame's-violet (Hesperis matronalis) in gardens, but larval survival is thought to be poor on these plants."
So the moral of the story seems to be that if we truly want to support these species throughout all phases of the life-cycle we need to make a little room in our gardens for their native food plants, such as the Lady's Smock and Jack-by-the-Hedge already mentioned.
Yup, the whole reason I emphasise concentrating on natives supplemented only by a few non-natives. You won't get adults to feed if there's no larval food plants. l know we have gardens not wildlife reserves but if wildlife is the raison d'être for your efforts then best not to get too distracted with exotics. On the other hand many natives don't feed a great deal if anything and even then if their range doesn't include your house is there any point growing that ugly look plant if nothing is going to eat it? Or should you grow it for the pure conservation aspect of our native species? It isn't easy to get information. And the information available isn't always the easiest to understand. Take Oaks, it's estimated that about 284 species of insect (depending on your source) eat it or live on it in some way where as the sycamore only has 15 but nobody seems to tell you if those 15 species of insect on a sycamore supply an equal weight of food for birds as the 284 species of insects on an oak. Having said that I don't think that should be your whole outlook on it. It's a big subject and many perspectives. Raw data isn't much use to most of us.
Posts
Thank you Jim - it took me back to when I had a garden running down to a stream, the other side of which was a water-meadow full of Lady's Smock - it was such a picture at this time of year and the butterflies were magical
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
That's why you've got the Orange tips - they don't think it's too much - they obviously think it's just right
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Well done Jim to capture the moment and share it on here. Beautiful
I'd over looked that to be honest, I associate them with Lady's smock.
Larval FoodplantsThe primary larval foodplants are Cardamine pratensis) and Alliaria petiolata). Sinapis arvensis), Arabis hirsuta), Sisymbrium officinale), Cardamine amara), Brassica rapa) and Barbarea vulgaris) are also used.
Nectar SourcesAdults feed primarily on Hyacinthoides non-scriptus), Rubus fruticosus), Ajuga reptans), Cardamine pratensis), Taraxacum agg.), Stellaria holostea), Hieracium/Hypochoeris), Lychnis flos-cuculi), Silene dioica) and Vicia spp.).
No wonder they find my garden so attractive, I've got most of these somewhere.
I saw my first orange tip of this spring on some Jack by the Hedge while out for a walk a few weeks ago
I've got lots of Hesperis in the garden but no signs of orange tips here - I shall endeavour to grow Jack by the Hedge as well. 
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks Jim
The Orange Tip is such a beautiful butterfly, quite possibly my favourite native British species. When you get close to a newly emerged specimen the green marbling on the underside of the hindwing is awesome.
The larval food plant debate is interesting because alongside the native plant species that you listed above the Butterfly Conservation Trust website includes this comment: "In addition it lays its eggs on Honesty (Lunaria annua) and Dame's-violet (Hesperis matronalis) in gardens, but larval survival is thought to be poor on these plants."
So the moral of the story seems to be that if we truly want to support these species throughout all phases of the life-cycle we need to make a little room in our gardens for their native food plants, such as the Lady's Smock and Jack-by-the-Hedge already mentioned.
Yup, the whole reason I emphasise concentrating on natives supplemented only by a few non-natives. You won't get adults to feed if there's no larval food plants. l know we have gardens not wildlife reserves but if wildlife is the raison d'être for your efforts then best not to get too distracted with exotics. On the other hand many natives don't feed a great deal if anything and even then if their range doesn't include your house is there any point growing that ugly look plant if nothing is going to eat it? Or should you grow it for the pure conservation aspect of our native species? It isn't easy to get information. And the information available isn't always the easiest to understand. Take Oaks, it's estimated that about 284 species of insect (depending on your source) eat it or live on it in some way where as the sycamore only has 15 but nobody seems to tell you if those 15 species of insect on a sycamore supply an equal weight of food for birds as the 284 species of insects on an oak. Having said that I don't think that should be your whole outlook on it. It's a big subject and many perspectives. Raw data isn't much use to most of us.
I have a wildlife reserve first and a garden second
In the sticks near Peterborough