Sunday 28 July 2013

Buddleia and butterflies

With all the sunshine we have been enjoying, I was hoping that I would have butterflies visiting my garden.  Up to last week, I hadn't seen any at all.  However, with the sun and my (supposedly) dwarf buddleia in full flower and smelling wonderful, the butterflies have started to appear. Above is a peacock butterfly, which was a little camera shy initially, but eventually it showed its lovely wing patterns.
Here is a small tortoiseshell butterfly, which seemed much happier to be in my photos.
I particularly like the blue patterns around its wings. 
The buddleia is in a small tub and was one of the 'Buzz' series - magenta, I think.  It is supposed to be a dwarf variety and while it is not as big as some, it is not really a dwarf as it is about 5 and a half feet tall.  It is a lovely plant though, with a honey scent and if it continues to attract butterflies, it definitely deserves its place in the garden.

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8 comments:

  1. My garden was buddleia free when we moved here, I've planted three, so really looking forward to seeing lots of butterflies next year, this year we have nasturtiums and loads of cabbage whites, I'm doing all I can to make it a real wild-life garden so I'm letting the caterpillars eat whatever they like for this season.
    Joy xx

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    1. Dear Joy
      Thank you. My buddleia has done amazingly well this year, despite being in a tub and despite the interesting weather we have had. I am sure yours will be wonderful next year. I have also seen the odd cabbage white butterfly around the buddleia, but as I don't grow cabbages, I am hoping all my plants will be safe! However, I would love to discourage some forms of wildlife; namely slugs and snails, who have eaten my poor annual dahlias to pieces!
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  2. Hi Ellie, The butterflies seemed to be a long time coming in our garden too but this last couple of weeks we have seen lots. Also lots of bees visiting too.

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    1. Dear Anne
      Thank you. It is lovely to see the bees and butterflies again, isn't it? I am really enjoying watching them feeding on the buddleia.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  3. I have a couple of slug traps in my veg plot, they consist of a plastic cup that you fill with beer (or orange juice if no alcohol available) and a removable slotted insert which you pull out to remove your dead slugs, knowing they died happy.
    The cabbage whites have eaten most of the leaves of my swede plants and some of the nasturtium leaves, but everything else is OK, and the swedes are strong enough to keep on growing with less leaf.
    Joy xx

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    1. Dear Joy
      Thank you. I really do need to do something to help the poor dahlias and this idea sounds like a good one. I'll have to give it a go. I hope your swedes do well despite the cabbage whites. Thank you for sharing.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  4. Great photos - you've captured that butterfly really well. I've been trying to capture them this summer and it's so hard! I love to see them in the garden. x

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    1. Dear Gillian
      Thank you. You didn't see the huge number of blurry photos, or all the ones where the butterflies had folded their wings! That's the joy of digital cameras - you can snap away and delete the rubbish photos! It is really hard to get a decent image of them as they seem to move such a lot. I agree, it is lovely to see them in the garden at last.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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