I’m planting out a butterfly buffet to cater for all stages of their life cycle
Not many insects are true icons, but butterflies are an exception and following a dreary few months, it’s lovely to see them out and about, enjoying the sunshine and flowers. But while it’s easy to admire the pretty adults on the wing, the secret to having more butterflies – and preferably lots of them, too – is to make sure all stages of their life cycle are catered for.
The trouble with this is that caterpillars are not always as welcome as they might be! Unlike their colourful, acrobatic, aerial alter-egos, they can be hard to see – which admittedly makes sense if you’re as tasty as a caterpillar – so they don’t put themselves forward to be admired in quite the same way, despite being really rather cool.
What’s more, their presence is usually revealed via the nibbled leaves of some tender plant or other, and the righteous ire that rises in the breast of the proud gardener can cloud the bigger picture. Yet facts are facts: the circle of life operates in the way it does, and to enjoy butterflies and moths logically means not just tolerating caterpillars but encouraging them. It’s just a case of joining the dots.
This last month, I’ve been making it my task to put as many caterpillar plants as possible in the little space I have remaining. It’s a kind of ‘build a buffet’ exercise, adding to the tasty food plants the garden
Plant-hopping wildlife
Even the smallest garden can be managed to encourage butterflies, moths and other insects and it’s important to remember that, like most creatures, they are opportunists and as long as they can fly from one plant to the next, eating and drinking as they go, they will.
In the case of butterflies, a short life cycle and hi
