BUTTERFLY-FRIENDLY WILDFLOWERS FROM LADYBURN NATIVE PLANT NURSERY
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    • BIRD'S-FOOT TREFOIL
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    • KIDNEY VETCH
    • NETTLES
    • VIOLETS
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  • NECTAR PLANTS
    • Nectar Plants
    • High Nectar Yielders
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    • Nectar Native or Exotic
    • Aphid Honeydew
    • Moths
  • CONTACT
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    • Blog
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  • LADYBURN NURSERY HOME PAGE
  • Home
    • Home
    • Find the Foodplant
  • BUTTERFLIES
    • BUTTERFLIES
    • THE BROWNS
    • WHITES AND YELLOWS
    • COPPERS & HAIRSTREAKS
    • CATERPILLAR FOODPLANTS M
    • VANESSIDS
    • PAINTED LADY
    • THE BLUES
    • FRITILLARIES
    • DAY-FLYING MOTHS
  • CATERPILLAR FOODPLANTS
    • BIRD'S-FOOT TREFOIL
    • SHEEP'S SORREL
    • ROCK ROSE
    • THISTLES
    • GARLIC MUSTARD
    • KIDNEY VETCH
    • NETTLES
    • VIOLETS
    • NATIVE GRASSES
    • TREES
    • OVERWINTERING
  • NECTAR PLANTS
    • Nectar Plants
    • High Nectar Yielders
    • Existing Nectar Plants
    • Nectar Native or Exotic
    • Aphid Honeydew
    • Moths
  • CONTACT
    • Contact
  • BLOG
    • Blog
  • Plants for sale
  • LADYBURN NURSERY HOME PAGE
Everyone Loves Butterflies
Picture
Peacock Butterfly caterpillar
Picture
Peacock Butterly

Let's help stop the decline by providing food for the caterpillars - like the Peacock caterpillar above - as well as nectar for the adults
A typical wildflower seed mix may contain twenty species of flowering plant, but of these only three or four are likely to be edible by the caterpillars of local butterflies. They are pollinator mixes designed to provide nectar for butterflies and both nectar and pollen for bees, and to provide a succession of flowers over as long a period as possible. Excellent! But if we wish to attract specific butterflies we need to make sure that their caterpillars are provided with nutritious leafy food as well as the sugary nectar drinks the adults go for. That usually means leaves or buds, definitely not pollen and nectar, and they are very specific in their requirements. Not just any leaf will do, often only one or two species.of plant fit the bill, and these are the ones we need to provide.
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It has to be remembered too that the leaves the caterpillars eat are not always the leaves of the plants with the pretty flowers. The caterpillars of the Small Copper, one  of our cutest butterflies, depends on Sorrel, which is wind pollinated and so doesn't produce large colourful flowers to attract insects, And as we all know, the caterpillars of several of our biggest and most colourful butterflies feed on the stinging nettle, which only has small flowers as it too is largely wind pollinated.

Some wildflowers do provide the complete package. One such is the Wild Scabious, its leaves providing food for the caterpillars and its nectar-rich flowers energy for the adults of the Marsh Fritillary.

HOW TO NAVIGATE THE SITE

Go to the BUTTERFLIES tab and select the local species you want to welcome to your greenspace or garden. You will also find a few day-flying moths there.

After making a note of their favourite food plants, go to the CATERPILLAR FOODPLANT tab and find out what other caterpillars feed on the same plant. This will let you see what other butterflies you may be helping at the same time.

The third step is to see if the foodplant is already there and if it's not to source it, either as seed or plug plants from one of the excellent local wildflower suppliers on the internet.

Sow the foodplants, watch them grow, and see what takes up your offer
For a small garden, the free-ranging type like the whites, Comma, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral will be easier to attract, Those that live in self contained colonies may be more difficult to attract unless there is a colony nearby, in which case it may be necessary to create a new habitat on a slightly larger scale, For example for orange tips, a long open south-facing hedge with Cuckoo Flower and Garlic Mustard growing in its shelter is ideal. This can often be done by modifying an existing hedge in a park or other country area, or even your own garden.
Picture
Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar
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