Late-summer flowers for butterflies
- BBC Gardeners' World Magazine
Published: Tuesday, 14 May 2019 at 1:18 pm
Find out which plants provide a late source of nectar for butterflies, in our video.
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The peak season for UK butterflies is midsummer to autumn. To attract species such as comma, red admiral, painted lady and peacock it’s important to provide plenty of nectar-rich flowers.
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In this short video guide, Kate Bradbury explains why Verbena bonariensis is such a good choice and recommends plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) including rudbeckia.
Discover more plants for butterflies
Find out how to make your garden a haven for butterflies from July onwards, in our No Fuss Guide.
Late-summer flowers for butterflies: transcript
The peak season for garden butterflies, such as the comma, red admiral, painted lady and peacock, is midsummer to autumn. Although these species are around in spring, this is the first generation which are laying eggs; and the second generation emerges from mid-July onwards. So, it's really important to provide a good source of nectar in our gardens in late summer.
Verbena bonariensis is one of the favourite butterfly plants we can grow in our gardens. As you can see here, it's got quite long corollas and the butterflies have a long proboscis - a straw-shaped structure - which they suck the nectar through from the flowers. Other really good late sources of nectar are daisy-type flowers, where the butterflies have really easy access to the nectar. So, shasta daisies are wonderful for butterflies. On a good summer's day, when it's really hot and sunny, a really nice big clump of shasta daisies can be covered in small tortoiseshell butterflies. It's lovely to see.
As we go further into later summer and autumn, the Sedum spectabile (Hylotelephium) here really comes into its own and the echinaceas as well; and these lovely rudbeckias, which again has this open, daisy-type habit, so the butterflies can access the nectar easily.
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In some years, butterflies may still be on the wing as late as October. So, it's important to keep deadheading the plants, to keep them flowering for a longer season. This gives the butterflies as much chance as possible to be in good condition for breeding the following spring.
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