Best ways to attract butterflies

The buddleia bushes in my garden have just come into flower. There are two of them and they’re not very big because I only planted them a few years ago. The reason I did so, despite the fact that they are a slightly unfashionable shrub, is to attract butterflies.

For some reason that I’ve never been able to work out the conical, purple flower heads act like a magnet attracting nectar-feeding butterflies as well as hoverflies, various species of bee and even some moths. This is so well known that an alternative name for the buddleia is ‘butterfly bush’.

Of course if you’re serious about wanting to attract insects into your garden just planting a couple of buddleias isn’t enough. They only flower for a few weeks in high summer and insects that feed on nectar and pollen need a succession of plants that flower from spring into late autumn. In fact for insects that hibernate, such as queen bumble bees and some butterflies, autumn is crucial because they’re trying to build up reserves of energy to last them through the winter and so is early spring when they emerge again.