September is the first month of autumn, but my Wild Space is still ablaze with colourful flowers – and brilliant butterflies! I do my best to keep the blooms going right until the middle of October because I know how important it is for certain butterflies to fuel up on energy-rich nectar before the winter. The commonest species that spend the winter as adults are the Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma, and Red Admiral. The energy from nectar can be stored in their bodies and used slowly for six months or more, until the spring wakes them up again.
Like I mentioned in the August edition of this blog, one of the best ways to keep plants blooming is deadheading them; cutting back the dead flowers so the plants keep producing more. Some of my Dahlias have been in bloom for almost three months now because I’ve regularly dead-headed them.
The first birch leaves have started to turn yellow, which is a sign that the autumn moths which look like yellowing leaves will be out soon. Two of my favourites are the Sallow Moth, and Canary-Shouldered Thorn. The Sallow has an interesting life cycle. The eggs are laid on branches of willow and poplar trees in autumn, and don’t hatch until the following spring. The caterpillars feed on the catkins of these plants until the catkins drop to the ground. The caterpillars then move over to herbaceous plants like dandelions and docks, to feed for the rest of summer. To help species like the Sallow Moth in your Wild Space, you need to have both sets of caterpillar foodplants, willows or poplars, and the herbaceous plants underneath them. And who wouldn’t love to see this beautiful golden-yellow moth in their Wild Space!
The Canary-Shouldered Thorn also spends the winter as an egg, with the caterpillars feeding on a good range of deciduous native trees in springtime. To help them thrive in your Wild Space all you need to do is to plant birch, alder, hornbeam or willow. These comical-looking moths have wings that are pale orange-brown and scalloped at the edges, so they appear like dead leaves, giving them perfect camouflage. The body is covered in dense canary-yellow fur. They’re wonderful to see!
If you don’t have the space for trees, then there’s still plenty you can do to help insects in your Wild Space in September. One of the best plants for small pots in sunny areas is Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’. As the name suggests, this plant really comes into its own in the autumn. I have seen the pink flowers completely covered in butterflies and bees, and a great thing about this plant is that it can thrive even in small pots as its leaves are succulent and tolerant of drought. You can also get ahead for next year and start planting bulbs in September that will flower the following spring – discover our top bulbs for butterflies and moths.
Check out our info hub for more ideas on what to plant in your Wild Space this autumn.
