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Which plant in your garden are butterflies loving most?

_Nicolas__Nicolas_ Posts: 48
in Wildlife gardening
Starting this thread to see what plants in our gardens are their favourites right now. :) I'm not restricting it to particular months or seasons because I typically seem to get them visiting from late February right up to mid October.

Erysimum 'Bowles's Mauve' is what they're visiting now and there frankly isn't much else for them, as the Aubrieta deltoidea isn't doing very well. Mostly Orange Tips. Was hoping my recently planted cirsium would attract them, but despite it flowering well no butterfly visitors so far! 
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  • B3B3 Posts: 26,546
    I haven't seen many. They must be loving something in someone else's garden😕
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • FireFire Posts: 17,387
    I don't really have butterflies (lots of moths, though). I am keen to know what draws them into all your gardens.
  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,576
    I've seen a couple of cabbage whites this year, that's it! But it has been cool weather a lot, so maybe some are hatching late?
  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,112
    Had a rush of Cabbage Whites and Holly Blues early May, not on any particular plants just flitting, but nothing since. The Peacocks and Red Admirals are missing. 
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,718
    edited June 2022
    Cabbage whites, green veined whites on the chive flowers, Silver Y's on the strawberries.
    Small tortoishells, Red admirals and peacocks on the nettles.
  • JellyfireJellyfire Posts: 1,139
    The favourites here are always the buddlia and echinops, but others that pull them in for me are an old scraggy twig of a plum tree which the red admirals love the decaying fruit of, along with cirsium, lavender, and in the wildflower bits the yarrow and knapweed are popular
  • _Nicolas__Nicolas_ Posts: 48
    Jellyfire said:
    The favourites here are always the buddlia and echinops, but others that pull them in for me are an old scraggy twig of a plum tree which the red admirals love the decaying fruit of, along with cirsium, lavender, and in the wildflower bits the yarrow and knapweed are popular

    Buddleia does really well with butterflies for me too, I have 3 large Buddleia davidii and 2 dwarfs. The peak of butterfly activity last Summer was when the buddleias, my 2 Hemp Agrimonies and my Eryngium 'Blaukappe' were all flowering at the same time. Nice to see knapweed mentioned as I planted 2 in Spring and they look like they'll be flowering soon!  :)

    Nice to also see moths getting a couple of mentions, would be interested to hear what plants they visit for others, all I've had is a visit from a Hummingbird Hawkmoth feeding on my Salvia 'Icing Sugar' and another species which I can't identify feeding regularly on the same salvia and another two ('Nachtvlinder' and 'African Sky').
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,048
    edited June 2022
    I've had a few on my lychnis viscaria firebird and knautia but more on our buddleia globosa and climbing hydrangea (tortoiseshell and red admiral). 
    Peacocks usual cover the wild buddleia at our local broads and in our garden echinops and eryngiums seem to attract the most but the achillea and sedum are loved as well.

    We get the little mint moths, mostly on monarda,  plus lots of micro moths but not on the flowers.
  • Alan Clark2 in LiverpoolAlan Clark2 in Liverpool Posts: 2,155
    I rarely get hummingbird hawkmoths, but when I do they always go for Abelia grandiflora.
  • _Nicolas__Nicolas_ Posts: 48
    Alan Clark2 in Liverpool said:
    I rarely get hummingbird hawkmoths, but when I do they always go for Abelia grandiflora.

    Oh, that's great to hear Alan, it's like I planted mine knowingly to attract them! :p    Recently added one of those to my front garden, quite close to the salvias funnily enough! :)  
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