Activity
Gardening for butterflies
Attracting butterflies to your garden is easy when you know how.
![An Orange-tip Butterfly perched on top of a flower.](https://base-prod.rspb-prod.magnolia-platform.com/.imaging/focalpoint/_WIDTH_x_HEIGHT_/dam/jcr:e1f8fb63-02f2-4b21-9929-ae637669e8d4/85775431-Species-Orange-tip-butterfly-on-flower.jpg)
By picking the right nectar plants and growing them in sunny conditions, you can make your garden a butterfly-friendly haven.
Instructions
Choose your plants for butterflies
We have some recommendations for each season here:
Spring flowers:
- Bugle (Ajuga reptans) – a ground-cover woodland perennial plant, with low spikes of purple flower
- Erysimum (Erysimum bicolor) ‘Bowles’s mauve’ – a perennial wallflower with mauve flowers
- Goat Willow (Salix caprea) – a shrubby tree, which can grow to 15 m tall, so it needs space and shouldn't be planted near houses because of its vigorous root
- Lady's Smock (Cardamine pratensis) – a delightful, slender plant with pink flowers for moist soils
![A purple flowering Erysimum in amongst green leaves.](https://base-prod.rspb-prod.magnolia-platform.com/.imaging/focalpoint/_WIDTH_x_HEIGHT_/dam/jcr:bc506bea-f01e-48d2-a777-0842f9b5ecb7/1443761585-Species-Erysimum-purple-flower2.jpg.png)
Summer Plants:
- Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) – a lovely perennial for the flower border, with large flowers with a central spiky cone surrounded by pink petals
- English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) – the familiar Mediterranean herb, a short-lived subshrub that likes poor, dry soil
- Hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) – a British native perennial, sending up lots of metre-tall leafy stems topped with fluffy pink flowerheads
- Marjoram (Orieganum vulgare) - a British native of downs and grassland, about 30cm tall with lots of small pink flowers
- Verbena Bonariensis – a trendy plant that is so dainty its tall stems topped with purple flowers can be slotted in among your existing border plants.
Autumn flowers:
- Bugbane (Actaea simplex) – A tall, upright spike with white flowers along it
- Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) – a native wet meadow and downland flower with little lilac pompom flowers
- Iceplant (Sedum spectabile) – fleshy leaves and pink flat heads of flowers
- Ivy (Hedera helix) – the familiar climber, but allow it to get its head into the sun in order to flower
- Michaelmas Daisy (Aster novae-angliae) – a perennial for the flower border with familiar pink and purple daisy flowers.
![A Small Tortoiseshell butterfly perched on lavender in a flower meadow.](https://base-prod.rspb-prod.magnolia-platform.com/.imaging/focalpoint/_WIDTH_x_HEIGHT_/dam/jcr:eaff68b4-fa6a-4b3d-853a-06b936c9e663/2007251942-Species-Small-Tortoiseshell-Butterfly-On-lavendar-flower-in-meadow.jpg)
Plan where to put your plants
Look for sunny, sheltered spots – this is where your butterfly plants will produce the most nectar. Plant a nice mix of nectar plants in a cluster, so butterflies can flit from one to the next. A bit like a buffet!
Want a free wildlife-friendly gardening guide?
Our guide is full of ideas for welcoming nature into your outdoor space. Put a few of our tips into action and your garden will be buzzing with wildlife in no time.
Download The Free Guide