my previous message.

Buddleia Davidii is the foolproof one.

Buddleia alternifolia
Buddleia Globosa
and
Buddelia Weyeriana do NOT attract butterflies.

I should have carified this. Apologies to all purists.

Here in Essex I have butterflies everywhere! Yesterday while hanging the
washing out there were at least four - three that landed on me and one that
landed on the washing line! We have a massive buddliah with hundreds of
prongs of flowers and there are always a few on it along with honey bees.

Charlie.

"Alison" o.uk wrote in
message ...

snip Are
there situations where the buddleja doesn't attract butterflies? Or
is
it
the local geography, perhaps?

regards, mbb

Could just be a general lack of butterflies.
snip
Dave R

snip
Lack of Butterflies and Honey Bees Yes. Joan has 'cultivated a bed of
Nettles to try to encourage them to no avail.

Mike

Hmmm yes, my Mum and I were commenting last week at the lack of
butterflies
this year. Still, the sedums are coming up for flowering - *that* will be
the acid test. We had loads and loads of butterflies on them last year
(and
photos to prove it!)

--Alison

my previous message.

Buddleia Davidii is the foolproof one.

Buddleia alternifolia
Buddleia Globosa
and
Buddelia Weyeriana do NOT attract butterflies.

I should have carified this. Apologies to all purists.

my previous message.

Buddleia Davidii is the foolproof one.

Buddleia alternifolia
Buddleia Globosa
and
Buddelia Weyeriana do NOT attract butterflies.

I should have carified this. Apologies to all purists.

mbb wrote:

My young sons' school has an (almost) surrounded quadrangle garden, a simple
lawned area with 3 or 4 mature buddlejas, a neglected pond, and some other
herbaceous beds.

I'm told that it's a pleasant area, but "the bushes don't encourage
butterflies". I know it's a subjective opinion, but might it be true? Are
there situations where the buddleja doesn't attract butterflies? Or is it
the local geography, perhaps?

regards, mbb


Butterly bushes are known for butterflies feeding on their nectar..

However you might bear in mind that butterflies also need other host
species to lay eggs, and as a food source for the caterpillars as well
as somewhere to pupate. Possibly these are not also present hence your
lack of butterflies?

You might equate this to a great fast food joint thats in the middle of
a desert and doesn't cater for kids.. No one would visit;-)

Possibly planting addtional butterfly loving herbaceous species and
planting makeing some of the lawn into a bed filled with a butterly mix
(such as from www.organiccatalogue.com) And also leaving weeds that are
beneficial to butterflies. I bleive Peacock butterflies need nettles for
the larva, for instance?
You could try changing cultivars or species of butterfly bush as
well.. I find B X weyeranii has a longer flowering season and it much
better for attracting butterflies..

Just a theory but makes sense to me;-)
//
Jim

"mbb" wrote in message
...
My young sons' school has an (almost) surrounded quadrangle garden, a
simple
lawned area with 3 or 4 mature buddlejas, a neglected pond, and some other
herbaceous beds.

I'm told that it's a pleasant area, but "the bushes don't encourage
butterflies". I know it's a subjective opinion, but might it be true? Are
there situations where the buddleja doesn't attract butterflies? Or is it
the local geography, perhaps?

regards, mbb

Yet more evidence of the power of Usenet!
Complain about the lack of butterflies and the garden is suddenly full of
them.
Possibly due to an overcast humid day which is more insect friendly?

Just been checking on Red Admiral and Painted Lady and Peacock which have
appeared on our bushes today.
From http://www.butterflygarden.co.uk/az_butterflies.htm
Painted Lady likes Thistles, Burdocks, Mallows & Nettles for the larvae - so
our Mallows (and concealed nettles) are O.K.
Red Admiral larvae like Nettles, Hops - nettles but no hops.
Peacock larvae like Nettles - nettles again!

So for a butterfly friendly area you could plant a Mallow or two as these
are similar in habit and long flowering to the Budleia, and some hops which
are lovely - I keep meaning to find one; they also grow wild around here.

Nettles are wonderful for butterflies but not so good for kids - so probably
not appropriate for a school garden :-)
Would be good if there was an area which could be fenced off to allow
nettles to grow, with an explanation why.

The Red Admiral and Painted Lady seem to like both our white and
lavender(ish) Budleia and also our light pink and dark pink Mallows.
The Peacock seems to be warming on the lawn, but spurning our varieties of
nectar plants.

For the purists:

Mallows are Garden Centre Lostlabelii
Lavender Budleia is Wonder Wherethat Camefromii
White Budleia (two cuttings planted together) Thanks Mate Presentii

Cheers
Dave R

P.S. there are a couple of small orange/brown thingies whizzing about but it
is windy today and they don't stay still long enough to identify.
P.P.S. I am contemplating a Nettle Bed for the larvae, but nettles are even
more invasive than mint - anyone have a strategy for containing them?

On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 17:22:32 GMT, Rodger Whitlock wrote:

...our
black swallowtails, for example, are limited to various
Compositae (Asteraceae).

Stupid me! Umbelliferae, not Compositae. Swallowtail larvae love
lovage, for example.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

"David wrote in message

P.S. there are a couple of small orange/brown thingies whizzing about but
it
is windy today and they don't stay still long enough to identify.

Yes, that's what we have seen on our allotment, Small Skipper I think, but
it could be Essex Skippers.

P.P.S. I am contemplating a Nettle Bed for the larvae, but nettles are
even
more invasive than mint - anyone have a strategy for containing them?

Plant in a large bucket with the bottom cut out and burried up to the rim,
or use some builders damp proof course material dug into the soil to form a
barrier to the roots around where you want it to stay .

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

"David W.E. Roberts" pushed briefly to the front
of the queue on Wed, 23 Jul 2003 13:11:15 +0100, and nailed this to
the shed door:

^
^ "mbb" wrote in message
^ ...
^ My young sons' school has an (almost) surrounded quadrangle garden, a
^ simple
^ lawned area with 3 or 4 mature buddlejas, a neglected pond, and some other
^ herbaceous beds.
^
^ I'm told that it's a pleasant area, but "the bushes don't encourage
^ butterflies". I know it's a subjective opinion, but might it be true? Are
^ there situations where the buddleja doesn't attract butterflies? Or is it
^ the local geography, perhaps?
^
^ regards, mbb
^
^ Yet more evidence of the power of Usenet!
^ Complain about the lack of butterflies and the garden is suddenly full of
^ them.
^ Possibly due to an overcast humid day which is more insect friendly?
^
^ Just been checking on Red Admiral and Painted Lady and Peacock which have
^ appeared on our bushes today.

Yay, me too! Peacocks arrived a few days ago (I already posted about
that), yesterday it was the turn of the Painted Ladies about whose
continuing no-show I have also posted.

(snip)

^ P.S. there are a couple of small orange/brown thingies whizzing about but it
^ is windy today and they don't stay still long enough to identify.

Someone else mentioned small orangey-brown butterflies they didn't
recognise a day or two ago. Might even have been you (ICBA to go and
look again). My reaction then, and now, was Small Coppers or some
variety of Skipper? Or possibly something else depending on your value
of small, I suppose. I think the first person actually said tiny, in
which case my money is definitely on Small Coppers.

Andy
--

"No, you claim the magpie is to blame for all the
worlds ills, based on your ignorance of magpies."
(4a7391c12e538ef306d33d71c9482221@TeraNews)

Helen wrote:

my previous message.

Buddleia Davidii is the foolproof one.

Buddleia alternifolia
Buddleia Globosa
and
Buddelia Weyeriana do NOT attract butterflies.

I should have carified this. Apologies to all purists.

I would consider my self far from being a purist but I think it is more
complicated than that - all the dozen or so buddleia in our garden are
davidii but a selection of varieties. Butterflies like some, aren't keen
on some and won't touch a couple - see my earlier post for more details.
--
Larry Stoter

"Andy wrote in message
^ P.S. there are a couple of small orange/brown thingies whizzing about but
it
^ is windy today and they don't stay still long enough to identify.

Someone else mentioned small orangey-brown butterflies they didn't
recognise a day or two ago. Might even have been you (ICBA to go and
look again). My reaction then, and now, was Small Coppers or some
variety of Skipper? Or possibly something else depending on your value
of small, I suppose. I think the first person actually said tiny, in
which case my money is definitely on Small Coppers.

As I've since said on another reply I now think those small orange ones we
saw a couple of days ago were Skippers, Essex or Small I know not which.
They were small and when they landed their two wings each side seemed
separate not as one like most butterflies. The Coppers are a bit bigger
according to my books and these were feeding on Marjoram/Origano which I
understand is a favoured food plant of Skippers.
There were some small blue butterflies around the same plants today and at
last I noticed some around our friends Buddleia, Small Tortoiseshells,
Peacocks, and Red Admirals amongst others.
--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

"Helen" wrote in message
om...
my previous message.

Buddleia Davidii is the foolproof one.

Buddleia alternifolia
Buddleia Globosa
and
Buddelia Weyeriana do NOT attract butterflies.

I should have carified this. Apologies to all purists.

Sorry Helen but not true, B. globosa and especially B. weyeriana do attract
butterflies, indeed I would say B. weyeriana is the best of all.
--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

In article ,
(Helen) wrote:

Buddleia is a butterfly magnet

Brassicas are more effective. Only white butterflies mind you but they
lay eggs to make sure there will be even more butterflies!

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

Do they lay the eggs in the soil close to brassicas or actually on them? The
reason I ask is because I'm very often finding small clusters of white eggs
at the base of weeds (even tiny weeds) around the plants, but they get
destroyed as I'm weeding.


Steve Harris wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Helen) wrote:

Buddleia is a butterfly magnet

Brassicas are more effective. Only white butterflies mind you but they
lay eggs to make sure there will be even more butterflies!

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

Helen wrote in message
. ..
my previous message.

Buddleia Davidii is the foolproof one.

Buddleia alternifolia
Buddleia Globosa
and
Buddelia Weyeriana do NOT attract butterflies.

I should have carified this. Apologies to all purists.

I have a yellow globosa which certainly does attract butterflies,
judging by the number on it this week. I also have davidii which is just
nicely coming into flower, and that has a very good number of visitors.
I admit I was given to understand that globosa didn't attract
butterflies, and also that it didn't like being pruned, well mine gets
pruned hard each spring, and attracts the butterflies.

Mike
www.british-naturism.org.uk