Common blue butterfly
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!
| Butterfly | Food plant for caterpillar |
|---|---|
| Meadow brown, hedge brown, marbled white, large skipper | Grasses including meadow grass, false brome, cocksfoot, Yorkshire fog |
| Large and small white | Wild/cultivated cabbages |
| Green veined white, orange tip | Lady’s smock, hedge garlic, hedge mustard |
| Brimstone | Alder buckthorn, purging buckthorn |
| Common blue | Bird’s foot trefoil |
| Painted lady | Thistles |
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.
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.
