Creating a border (large or small) of butterfly-friendly plants is a great way to attract species to your Wild Space and provide a variety of food for caterpillars and nectar for adults.
Easy-to-grow and available in many colours, Achillea produces flowers from June to September and grows best in a sunny spot, with moist and well-drained soil.
The flowers of Achillea are great for nectar and are visited by the Small Copper and Peacock butterflies. The wild variety, Common Yarrow, has white flowers and is eaten by caterpillars of the Ruby Tiger and Yellow Shell moths.
This ornamental thistle is easy to grow and has attractive deep-red flowers.
Like all thistles, Plume Thistle provides nectar for many different pollinators, including the Small Tortoiseshell and Painted Lady butterflies.
These lovely flowers come in white, blue, pink and purple and provide welcome colour in late summer and autumn, when other flowers have started to die back.
They are a great source of food for butterflies and moths. Caterpillars of the Burnished Brass and Peppered Moth feed on the leaves, and the flowers are very popular with Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies.
With pink-red flowers that bloom all summer long, Red Valerian is easy to grow and survives well in dry conditions. It prefers full sun and well-drained soils.
The oval green leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of the Angle Shades moth, and the flowers are visited by Burnished Brass and Humming-bird Hawk-moths.
These compact plants spread easily and are perfect for covering bare patches in your border. They produce clouds of tiny, fragrant flowers in shades of white, purple and pink, from June to September.
The abundance of flowers and long flowering period make it a great nectar source for adult butterflies and moths.
