Bring butterflies into your garden

Butterflies bring beauty to any garden. You can attract them by choosing nectar-rich plants that they love and that caterpillars can feed on.

 

Tips and plant suggestions

Plants with simple flowers make it easy for butterflies to get to the nectar.

Choose plants that will provide flowers throughout the season and plant in a sheltered sunny spot if possible for maximum effect. Don't use insecticides and pesticides. They kill butterflies!

ButterflyFood plant for caterpillar
Meadow brown, hedge brown, marbled white, large skipperGrasses including meadow grass, false brome, cocksfoot, Yorkshire fog
Large and small whiteWild/cultivated cabbages
Green veined white, orange tipLady’s smock, hedge garlic, hedge mustard
BrimstoneAlder buckthorn, purging buckthorn
Common blueBird’s foot trefoil
Painted ladyThistles

 

Good plants for attracting butterflies include:

 

  • Verbena bonariensis
  • Lavender
  • Perennial wallflowers
  • Marjoram
  • Common fleabane
  • Ice plant (sedum)
  • Ivy (excellent for late season nectar)
  • Primrose
  • Aubretia
  • Sweet rocket
  • Hebe
  • Thyme
  • Buddleja – but should be deadheaded after flowering to prevent seeding and promote a second round of flowering (can be a problem as an invasive non-native species)

 

Share your butterflies with us

If your garden is a butterfly paradise, we’d love to hear from you. Share your garden butterfly photos with us on Twitter and Facebook, and let us know your favourite butterfly plants.
 

Enjoy gardening for wildlife?

Why not consider taking part in our Wild About Gardens Awards 2017? It’s free to enter and anyone who has, or is developing, a wildlife-friendly garden in Kent is welcome to take part, however large or small their plot and whether they are a business, community group, school, college, allotment, private garden or even a collection of adjoining gardens.

For more information, visit our Wild About Gardens Awards page.

Learn more about wildlife gardening

Pond in garden

How to create a wildlife pond

Blog

Judith Hathrill, Wild About Gardens volunteer, writes all about her garden pond and why it's so vital for wildlife.