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Butterflies are popular in
wildlife gardening. They feed off nectar rich plants such as
echinacea and verbena, but you will also need to include butterfly host
plants (such as nettles) for the caterpillars...
Butterflies
in your wildlife garden
Butterflies
are a popular visitor to any wildlife garden. There are so
many beautiful colours and patterns to spot. When creating a
butterfly garden, remember that butterflies need a place to shelter
from the wind and rain. Some butterflies such as the Peacock
and Small Tortoiseshell butterfly hibernate throughout the winter and
so butterfly
habitats are important in your wildlife garden.
Butterflies
are caterpillars first
Wildlife gardeners love butterflies, but tend to be less keen on
caterpillars. Caterpillars can be seen as a threat and a pest
but they are an important part of the life cycle and without them, we
wouldn't get the beautiful butterflies. When creating a
butterfly garden you will need to include plants for the caterpillars
as well as for the butterflies. The plants the butterflies lay their
eggs on are the plants which get eaten by caterpillars. Why
not tuck these in a less prominent part of your wildlife garden design
where you don't see the munched leaves? Place the nectar
plants for your butterfly planting shceme in the foreground, or as a
focal point and you will get to enjoy the whole life cycle of a
butterfly garden without feeling as if your wildlife garden has been
ravaged.
   Butterfly plants for caterpillars and
butterflies
There are lots of plants
to choose from for your butterfly garden planting scheme. For
the caterpillars, plant clover and fennel, or allow a patch of stinging
nettles to colonise part of your wildlife garden. For the
butterflies, plant echinacea, verbena bonariensis, lavender, ivy and
sedum
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