(Steve Harris) wrote in message ...
In my front garden, there's a lavender bush which is very popular with
white butterflies.

In the back garden, I have a few brassicas that are similarly popular
with white butterflies. They even lay eggs.

Are these the all the same butterflies?

I was planning a lavender hedge quite close to the vegetable patch for
next year, is this wise?

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

Are they all the same butterflies? Not always there are a number of
species of white butterflies but only two are pests of cabbage.

As to will your planting of Lavender increase the damage to your
cabbages.
I suspect the risk is slight. In fact I can think of reasons why there
might be less damage to the cabbages if more eggs were laid.

Not all the damage by caterpillars is caused by butterfly
caterpillars.
When I was a kid my mother used to go over the cabbages and pick off
the caterpillars. If she found an unusual one she would show it to me.
For example she would occasionally find Garden Tiger moth
caterpillars. They aren't a pest and don't usually eat cabbage but
they can. I experimented with them once and I found nothing they would
not eat not even Japanese Knotweed.

On one occasion she brought me a caterpillar she hadn't seen before.
It was a Large White! (one of the two cabbage eaters) I then asked to
see the other caterpillars she found. Most of them were moths.

Go ahead and plant the lavender. It will also attract the good
butterflies to our garden.

--
Neil Jones- http://www.butterflyguy.com/
"At some point I had to stand up and be counted. Who speaks for the
butterflies?" Andrew Lees - The quotation on his memorial at Crymlyn
Bog National Nature Reserve