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Buddleia/Butterflies
shazza 3
Posts: 197
hello, having spent the last few years putting in plants to encourage wildlife, thought i'd ask a question about a problem I seem to be having. I bought six different coloured Buddleia's which grew well and flowered like mad last year. We had some awful weather and when the sun finally came out I had hoped that we would see lots of butterflies on these plants that I was assured would attract them. I have 5 x purple and blue ones and 1 x white plant and although I was glad to see that the white one had lots of bees, it attracted absolutely no butterflies at all (there were none on the purple or blue plants either).
All the plants are in sunny spot so why is only the white plant attracting bees but no butterflies ??
thanks
0
Posts
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I agree with the above two comments; it's probably also the case that your new plants are not very big yet with not many flowers. This year they will be bigger. Don't worry. In time they will attract butterflies.
I expect Redwing is right, small plants will attract fewer butterflies.
Mine mostly attracts nettle feeders (Tortoiseshell, Peacock,Comma, Red Admiral) but i do not grow nettles, so it doesn't matter if you have no larval foodplants.
But it matters if nobody has larval food plants. I imagine this could happen in an area of many gardens where everyone wants the flowers and butterflies and nobody wants the caterpillars and the larval food plants.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Its a fact that larval food plants are essential in the life cycle of butterflies (and moths). No plants for caterpillars equals no pupae equals no butterflies. Simple.
I allow patches of nettles and even ragwort (gasp) in addition to growing as many different species of native wildflower as my garden will allow
There is also the fact that we had a fairly dire summer last year with all the rain etc. so butterfly numbers were observed to be very low. Don't give up - the butterflies love Buddleia and will find it if they are around.
Depends what caterpillars you have. Peacocks etc. will attack the nettles, large white, the brassicas. Of course.
There is a lot of variation in the attractiveness of different varieties of Buddleia.
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/planttrials/TrialReports/Buddleja%202010.pdf
Last year was pretty dire for butterflies in much of the country apparently due to the weather.
My Buddleja which is usually a magnet for all sorts of butterflies attracted almost nothing. Even when the sun shone.
Most of the species that come to feed on Buddleja are strong flyers that roam considerable distances so a lack of larval foodplants in your own garden wouldn't make too much difference. That being said, it is good to provide some suitable foodplants if you have the space.