If you are thinking of growing nettles of you have them be careful they can spread easily, but I don't know about which butterflies and caterpillars eat them best to go on the net
I can honestly say that I have never seen a butterfly or caterpillar on a nettle, although I know they are supposed to be food plants for invertebrates. I have looked quite hard but no luck yet!
I had loads last year, small tortoiseshell and peacock, hadn't seen them like that for years. Back to normal this year, not a lot and I think they were eaten by something
I have patches of nettles in all corners of the garden and never seen a caterpillar on them either, but as soon as the buddlia are out, there will be hundreds of them, I don't know where they come from, not my nettles!
i have newts in the pond, some are only about an inch long. Haven't had a heron ......yet.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I had nothing this year and after the success of the nettles last year in their first year I just assumed I'd get another hatching...
The small torts seemed to be out really early - one went and sat in my nettle patch while the nettles were still really small and then we had loads of bad weather, don't know if that had something to do with it...
Lyn - same for me. I have a couple of nettles at the back of the shed which I carefully nurtured - no sign of anything on them, but the buddleias are covered with torties and peacocks and red admirals when they flower!
I did have loads of caterpillars on the blackthorn hedging last year and I'm sure they were torties and peacocks. The hedge is very popular with ladybirds so I'm glad I planted it.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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Info here http://www.nettles.org.uk/nettles/wildlife/butterflies.asp
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Tortoieshell Butterflies use them. We have them everywhere in the woods here and we get tortoiseshells every year.
They always seem to fly in pairs here
I can honestly say that I have never seen a butterfly or caterpillar on a nettle, although I know they are supposed to be food plants for invertebrates. I have looked quite hard but no luck yet!
I had loads last year, small tortoiseshell and peacock, hadn't seen them like that for years. Back to normal this year, not a lot and I think they were eaten by something
In the sticks near Peterborough
I did not know invertebrates liked nettles. Have a lot of newts around our place -and nettles!
Newts are vertebrates
Have you got the usual numbers of newts this year? Ours seem very much down,
I'm blaming the heron
but maybe it's not responsible
In the sticks near Peterborough
I have patches of nettles in all corners of the garden and never seen a caterpillar on them either, but as soon as the buddlia are out, there will be hundreds of them, I don't know where they come from, not my nettles!
i have newts in the pond, some are only about an inch long. Haven't had a heron ......yet.
I had nothing this year and after the success of the nettles last year in their first year I just assumed I'd get another hatching...
The small torts seemed to be out really early - one went and sat in my nettle patch while the nettles were still really small and then we had loads of bad weather, don't know if that had something to do with it...
I'll keep stoking the patch for next year
Lyn - same for me. I have a couple of nettles at the back of the shed which I carefully nurtured - no sign of anything on them, but the buddleias are covered with torties and peacocks and red admirals when they flower!
I did have loads of caterpillars on the blackthorn hedging last year and I'm sure they were torties and peacocks. The hedge is very popular with ladybirds so I'm glad I planted it.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...