Butterflies are among our most attractive wild creatures. We are lucky in Britain to have over 50 different types. However, many are becoming rarer due to losses of wildflower meadows, hedgerows and woodlands in the countryside. Pesticide and herbicide sprays have also taken their toll.

With a bit of thought, and some careful planning, you can help reverse this decline by making a butterfly garden. Not all the different types of butterfly will visit, as most have special requirements, but you should be able to attract the more common ones. If you are lucky they may even decide to breed!

Attracting butterflies to feed
Most butterflies are highly mobile. They will find their way into almost any garden or wildlife area and will stay if there is something to keep them.

What they need is sugar-rich nectar from flowers. To attract them, you need to plant a selection of suitable flowers to provide as much food for as many kinds of butterfly as possible. Butterflies are on the wing from March to October, so provide a good mixture of plants that will flower throughout the spring, summer and autumn. Just choose a selection from the list.

Make sure you have enough of each type of flower to make a visible display and to give off a strong enough scent to attract butterflies to your area. If you only have a small amount of space, concentrate on planting the best butterfly plants.

Remember butterflies love warmth and shelter so make sure your display of flowers is situated in a suitable suntrap, out of the wind. The best time to plant is in the spring.

Butterfly Plants

Spring
Aubretia - Aubrietia deltoides*
Honesty - Linaria annua
Primroses - Primula vulgaris*
Sweet rocket - Hesperis matronalis*
Sweet violet - Viola odorata
Wallflower - Cheiranthus cheirii
Yellow alyssum - Alyssum saxatile

Summer
Mignonette - Reseda odorata
Lavender - Lavandula spicata*
Buddleia - Buddleia davidii*
Valerian - Centranthus ruber*
Marjoram - Origanum officinale*
Catmint - Nepeta mussinii*
Knapweed - Centaurea nigra*
Thyme - Thymus drucei*
Heliotrope - Heliotropium x hybridum
Annual chrysanthemum - Chrysanthemum carinatum
Thrift - Armeria maritima
Petunia - Petunia x hybrida
Cornflower - Centaurea cyanus
Teasel - Dipsacus fullonum
Globe-thistle - Echinops sphaerocephalus*

Autumn
Ice plant - Sedum spectabile*
Michaelmas daisy - Aster novi-belgii*
Hyssop - Hyssopus officinalis
Winter savory - Satureia montana
Helenium - Helenium autumnale
Sweet scabious - Scabiosa atropurpurea*
Goldenrod - Solidago virgaurea
Petunia - Petunia x hybrida
*Most highly recommended

Early flowers, such as Aubretia, are especially useful for feeding newly-woken butterflies in early spring. Honesty and sweet rocket will help to fill a flowering gap during April and May. Later flowering species such as red valerian, thyme and lavender will attract butterflies during the midsummer months.

The ice plant is very popular with butterflies in the late summer. In the autumn michaelmas daisy and golden rod can give butterflies which hibernate, such as the Peacock, a last chance to stock up with nectar before the winter sets in.

Buddleia or 'butterfly bush' is also well known for attracting butterflies. Always choose the light blue flowering varieties. Its flowering can be prolonged by 'dead-heading'.

Designing your butterfly garden
When you are planting up your butterfly garden make sure all the plants will have as much sunlight as possible. The best way to do this is to plant the tallest shrubby plants at the back and the smallest at the front.

Persuading butterflies to breed
Attracting butterflies to breed is more complicated than attracting them to feed. This is because the female butterfly is choosy about the types of plants on which she will lay her eggs - different caterpillars like to eat different types of plants.

Food Plants for Caterpillars
You can attract the most common butterflies to breed by planting their favourite food plants. Select food plants for the butterflies of your choice from the list.

Meadow Brown, Hedge Brown, Wall Brown, Marbled White, Large Skipper, Small Skipper
Grasses including meadow grass, false brome, cocksfoot and Yorkshire fog

Large White, Small White
Wild and cultivated cabbages

Green-veined White, Orange Tip
Lady's smock, hedge garlic and hedge mustard

Brimstone
Alder buckthorne, purging buckthorne

Common Blue
Bird's foot trefoil

Holly Blue
Holly and ivy

Small Tortoiseshell, Comma, Red Admiral
Stinging nettle

Painted Lady
Thistles

Nettle feeders
The easiest group to attract are the nettle feeders. Grow nettles in a sunny, sheltered position. Plant them in an old tub buried in the ground to stop them from spreading and causing a nuisance.

Small Tortoiseshells prefer young nettle growth, so cut down part of your nettle patch in late June or early July (removing any caterpillars first) to allow the next generation of butterflies to use the regrowth.

Grass feeders
If you have a lawn you can leave some areas of grass unmown or establish a wildflower meadow.

Creating a wildflower meadow

Changing your habits
Many of the pesticides which are designed to kill garden pests will also kill caterpillars and butterflies. So think twice before you use them. Dilute household detergent is effective against greenfly and blackfly. It is also believed not to effect butterflies and caterpillars.