Saturday 19 July 2008

helping butterflies


I think that we all expected that our native butterflies and moths would benefit from climate change. We associate global warming with a heating and drying of our local climate. It's not working out that way.

Last year was the wettest summer on record. This year is typically English - often cool, frequently wet.
This means that for the second successive year we have had poor conditions for butterflies and moths. And don't we know it! I have seen a large white fluttering around recently, and orange tip earlier in the season. But not much else.

So, our fluttering friends need as much help as we can give them.
There is absolutely nothing on earth better for meeting the nectar needs of insects than buddleia davidii. They were introduced to this country by Victorian plant collectors and have naturalised.
They love our sandy conditions and can even be seen growing in the old wall that surrounds Lord Byron's garden in Newstead Abbey, a mile up the road.

The plant pictured is a new one, bought in the early spring and now flowering for the first time. It is flowering before the other buddleias in the garden and so will provide a longer source of nourishing nectar for all visiting insects including moths and butterflies.

We have a buddleia davidii Black Knight. It is a big, bossy plant that usually puts on eight feet of growth each year. The newcomer is much smaller, has a more prostrate habit and slender silver stems.

They all have the sweetest fragrance.

If only I could find the label!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here in the Tamar Valley I'm having the same concerns about our butterflies. I have seen a comma and a gatekeeper today on my buddleia davidii and there are a few bees about but it's not attracting anything else. Hopefully there is still time to see our better known butterflies if the weather settles in the next couple of weeks but if these deluges in early summer become the norm I do fear for the numbers of these wonderful insects.

Lisa said...

We're not seeing so many of our regular butterflies this year either-- but I think it's the drought in our case, followed a very late freeze last year. Often numbers build up again by fall, but it sounds excessively damp for you.

Hope you have some drier weather in store!

Rob said...

Brian - warmer this week, and so hope for our butterflies yet. But so few bees around up here at the moment.
Borage is great for bees at this time of year, but Sunday saw only the smaller ones feeding.

Rob said...

Lisa,
We ought to swap weather! Actually, had some sunnier weather these past few days. That was probably summer!
Take care
Rob

CiNdEe's GaRdEn said...

my buddleai is not doing to well this year. Not sure why. We do have butterflies here and plenty of bees. Oh and of course many mice.(-: What Jack doesn't catch that is(-:

Rob said...

Our Black Knight buddleia was weakened last year by a vigorous clematis vitticella. It has recovered now that the bully has been moved.
Give the buddleia some buckets of water - perhaps its parched!