I am a novice gardener with only a small back yard and small flower
bed at my disposal. I have heard in the media that butterflies are
under threat in the UK. I would be grateful of advice as to which
plants I should grow to help sustain our butterfly population.

Thanks

Bob

http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifeh...utterflies.cfm

Regards,
Emrys Davies.





"Craig" wrote in message
om...
I am a novice gardener with only a small back yard and small flower
bed at my disposal. I have heard in the media that butterflies are
under threat in the UK. I would be grateful of advice as to which
plants I should grow to help sustain our butterfly population.

Thanks

Bob

Subject: How do I attract butterflies
From: (Craig)
Date: 28/03/2004 11:30 GMT Daylight Time
Message-id:

I am a novice gardener with only a small back yard and small flower
bed at my disposal. I have heard in the media that butterflies are
under threat in the UK. I would be grateful of advice as to which
plants I should grow to help sustain our butterfly population.


Try this:
http://www.hdra.org.uk/factsheets/gg40.htm

A general rule of thumb though, is anything with bright flowers and strong
scent will attract all sorts of wildlife, not just butterflies
--
Rhiannon
http://www.livejournal.com/users/rhiannon_s/
"The trick is to commit crimes so confusing that police feel too stupid to even
write a crime report about them."
Aubrey on remaining at liberty
www.somethingpositive.net

"Craig" wrote in message
om...
I am a novice gardener with only a small back yard and small flower
bed at my disposal. I have heard in the media that butterflies are
under threat in the UK. I would be grateful of advice as to which
plants I should grow to help sustain our butterfly population.

Thanks
Bob

Two certain butterfly favourites are buddleia and sedums.

Both are extremely easy to grow.
Jenny

The message
from emon (Rhiannon S) contains these words:
Subject: How do I attract butterflies
From: (Craig)
Date: 28/03/2004 11:30 GMT Daylight Time
Message-id:

I am a novice gardener with only a small back yard and small flower
bed at my disposal. I have heard in the media that butterflies are
under threat in the UK. I would be grateful of advice as to which
plants I should grow to help sustain our butterfly population.


Try this:
http://www.hdra.org.uk/factsheets/gg40.htm

A general rule of thumb though, is anything with bright flowers and strong
scent will attract all sorts of wildlife, not just butterflies

If you have room for a medium sized shrub, Buddlia flowers for quite an
extended period and is very good at attracting butterflies.

I hesitate to suggest growing some nettles in a pot, as you would need
to prevent them seeding. Violets are necessary for fritillaries - some
in the open and if you have any bushes or shrubs, some beneath them
might attract two separate fritillary species.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Craig wrote:

I am a novice gardener with only a small back yard and small flower
bed at my disposal. I have heard in the media that butterflies are
under threat in the UK. I would be grateful of advice as to which
plants I should grow to help sustain our butterfly population.

Thanks

Bob

You need to distiguish plants for food and plants for breeding - which
are different for many species.

Many species are also very sedentary and have complex habitat
requirements for food and breeding. So, supporting organisations which
are attempting to preserve the habitats is very important.

You can, however, expect to see a number of species in almost any garden
by putting in a few flowers. As has been mentioned, buddlia and sedum
are good food plants, as is hemp agrimony, a British native which likes
damp patches. You need to be careful because I have noticed that some
commerical varieties loose their attraction for butterflies, so I'd
suggest finding a friend or neighbour with plants which are clearly
attractive to butterflies and then collect cutting or seeds.

The Holly Blue butterfly lays eggs on ivy (the standard, dark green,
'native' variety) so if you put that against a wall, you could attract
them.


--
Larry Stoter

"Craig" wrote in message
om...
I am a novice gardener with only a small back yard and
small flower
bed at my disposal. I have heard in the media that
butterflies are
under threat in the UK. I would be grateful of advice as
to which
plants I should grow to help sustain our butterfly
population.

Among the smallish herbaceous plants, you will find that
Sedum spectabile is a favourite with butterflies.

Franz

On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 18:50:56 +0200, "JennyC" wrote:


"Craig" wrote in message
. com...
I am a novice gardener with only a small back yard and small flower
bed at my disposal. I have heard in the media that butterflies are
under threat in the UK. I would be grateful of advice as to which
plants I should grow to help sustain our butterfly population.

Thanks
Bob

Two certain butterfly favourites are buddleia and sedums.

Both are extremely easy to grow.
Jenny

another is nettles, even easier to grow :-(((

Budleija is fine but has a short flowering season and will take over the
garden.
I have found the last 2 or 3 years that Single dahlias(Not those with full
closed flowers) are very good feed plants for bees, hover flies and
Butterflies. and can last in flower from July till the frost cuts them down,
also Helichrisum (Everlasting flower) is another good long lasting feed
plant that doesn't take up to much space (You could plant clumps of 8 or 9
plants in different parts of your garden).

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

On 28 Mar 2004 02:30:10 -0800, Craig wrote:

I am a novice gardener with only a small back yard and small flower
bed at my disposal. I have heard in the media that butterflies are
under threat in the UK. I would be grateful of advice as to which
plants I should grow to help sustain our butterfly population.

I suggest you find out which species are seriously threatened and
known to still occur near you; then plant whatever it is they
feed on. It seems to me that it is more useful to specifically
encourage the species most at risk. After all, cabbage whites are
butterflies yet are hardly threatened!


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 16:09:32 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:

I hesitate to suggest growing some nettles in a pot, as you would need
to prevent them seeding.

IIRC, nettles are dioecious. That is, individual plants bear
either male or female flowers exclusively. It should be easy to
select a male plant from the nearest wild patch thereby obviating
any risk of seeding.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

In article ,
(Craig) wrote:

I have heard in the media that butterflies are
under threat in the UK. I would be grateful of advice as to which
plants I should grow to help sustain our butterfly population.

Traditionally, they love Buddleja and I used to see them mobbing the
bushes. The Buddleja are still spreading in gardens and on waste ground
but the butterflies are nowhere.

Maybe Buddleja went out of fashion with butterflies, or they've
developed a taste for foreign holidays? Another theory is that the
British National Party had all the coloured ones thrown out. Certainly,
only white butterflies bother my cabbages - try panting some of those.


Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com
A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/

In article ,
emon (Rhiannon S) wrote:

A general rule of thumb though, is anything with bright flowers and
strong scent will attract all sorts of wildlife, not just butterflies

Cabbages are very effective - especially for white butterflies.


Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com
A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/

(Craig) wrote in message . com...
I am a novice gardener with only a small back yard and small flower
bed at my disposal. I have heard in the media that butterflies are
under threat in the UK. I would be grateful of advice as to which
plants I should grow to help sustain our butterfly population.

Thanks

Bob

The organisation in the UK that is dedicated to Conserving
Butterflies, Moths and their habitats is Butterfly Conservation. If
you are interested you may care to join. It is a very good society to
belong to.
They have a page which might help you at this address.


http://www.butterfly-conservation.or...fly-haven.html

Neil Jones
http://www.butterflyguy.com/

In article ,
(Craig) wrote:

I have heard in the media that butterflies are
under threat in the UK. I would be grateful of advice as to which
plants I should grow to help sustain our butterfly population.

Traditionally, they love Buddleja and I used to see them mobbing the
bushes. The Buddleja are still spreading in gardens and on waste ground
but the butterflies are nowhere.

Maybe Buddleja went out of fashion with butterflies, or they've
developed a taste for foreign holidays? Another theory is that the
British National Party had all the coloured ones thrown out. Certainly,
only white butterflies bother my cabbages - try panting some of those.


Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com
A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/