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Talkback: Five plants for butterflies

Newgardener3Newgardener3 Posts: 2
in Talkback
Majoram is another one that the butterflies in my garden love. It was covered in butterflies in the spring/summer and also had lots of bees and hoverflies. A great plant all round for wildlife.

Posts

  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,545

    Agree about the marjoram , it's a butterfly magnet. Also bergamot (Monarda) and the shrubby salvias were rarely without a butterfly or two but the most unexpected butterfly plant was Herb Robert. It seeded itself into my rockery wall and put on a good show with its ferny leaves and masses of little pink flowers, plus clouds of little white butterflies. These also like the great willow herb that grows in our boggy wilderness area, but I wouldn't recommend that to normal gardeners! The perennial wallflowers were popular too.

  • Victoria SpongeVictoria Sponge Posts: 3,502

    I was just thinking the other day I've never seen a single insect let alone a butterfly on the red valerian...I wonder whyimage

    Hopefully they're supporting a humongous moth population insteadimage

    Wearside, England.
  • oscarbgraceoscarbgrace Posts: 7
    Insects have been few and far between but those visiting have fed happily on borage, marjoram, foxglove, verbena, buddleia and clover. Already planning the autumn planting for early in the year foragers of nectar.
  • cathy43cathy43 Posts: 373

    Any of the Astrantias tend to be covered with bees and butterflies and they reliably flower for ages

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    Pulmonarias are good for early bees.



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Phoebe NewtonPhoebe Newton Posts: 4
    I'm pleased to report that I've got 7 of these in my garden, if you count the cultivated varieties of centaurea. What about golden rod? I know that bees and beetles like it.

    Thanks for identifying hemp agrimony for me. I didn't plant it. It 'just growed!'
  • Lesley12Lesley12 Posts: 2
    Don't forget the caterpillars. Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral & Painted Lady, all need nettles. I keep a patch of nettles in my garden & if I need to remove nettles from any other part of the garden, I put them on this patch. It works.. I love watching the caterpillars feeding & now my garden is full of butterflies. I take part in a local butterfly count & so far have had 18 species in my garden.
  • Steve 309Steve 309 Posts: 2,753

    Buddleia globosa is better than B. davidii or most of the cultivars, as the short corolla allows bees to get their little probosces in.   A lovely gold colour too!

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