There was a time during this Summer when my garden seemed to be full of butterflies: I had Holly Blues
Peacocks
And Commas and Red Admirals on the windfall plums
A Painted Lady stayed for a week
But for me the highlight of this Summer was the return of Small Tortoiseshells in numbers that reminded me of when I was a boy
This was the view I had nearly every day from my living-room
The four Buddleias in my garden were very popular and I found myself wishing I'd planted more.
In late September a friend showed me around a plot of land that is ear-marked for development. He pointed out a large number of wild Buddleia that had sprouted up in the short time since the land had been cleared. This gave me an idea and with his permission I dug out ten of them and transplanted the lot into my garden. I am no gardener but I hoped the near indestructible quality of this bush would go half way to cancelling out my Horticultural Ignorance. As you can see, they appear to have survived the change in venue
I also collected a few other "weeds" such as Ragwort and Thistle
which too have survived replanting ( probably because they are Invincible ! )
I also have a Nettle which sprung-up of its own accord
All of this activity started my rusty brain thinking:Why not try to plant a Butterfly Garden?
Here is a view of the top of my garden
which gets a lot of sunshine.
And here is an area of lawn that I hope to convert into a more Butterfly Friendly flower bed
Over the last couple of months I have been buying plants
In these pots I have Lady's Smock
, Garlic Mustard,Greater Knapweed, Ox-Eye Daisy,Asters, Bugle
Bird's Foot Trefoil
Dog Violet
Devil's Bit Scabious and Valarian
I also bought myself a seed mix of Wildflower and Grasses, all of which i will pop into the mud come Spring and keep everything crossed !
Whether my fingers get any Greener and how the Butterflies get on in my garden next year, this Diary will tell.
