Let’s make next year a ‘Butterfly Summer’

We need to make next summer a Butterfly Summer – and we need to start work right now.

As a reaction to the grim picture painted by this year’s Big Butterfly Count of dramatically falling numbers, experts at the National Botanic Garden of Wales are urging everyone to play their part to protect these important pollinators.

Head of Science and Education, Dr Natasha de Vere said: “We must act now to make next summer a ‘butterfly summer’ and the good news is that there is lots we can all do in our own back yards to help.

“Buy the right shrubs and, if you are getting your seeds and bulbs now, make sure you focus on buying butterfly-friendly annuals and perennials.”

Natasha added: “It is, though, really all about the caterpillars.

“The adult butterfly stage of the lifecycle can often be short-lived – colourful, crucial but very short. They spend the majority of their lives as caterpillars so providing them with plenty of ‘food plants’ is going to be crucial.”

She explained that the different species of butterfly require different ‘food plants’ for their larvae (caterpillars). It is important to recognise the beautiful butterflies that we all love to see in our gardens in summer are just one part of a very important cycle.

“One vital lesson we have learned working in our brand new tropical Butterfly House,” said Natasha, “Is that we have to pay very close attention to all the stages if we are going to make it a success. It’s going really well with the exotic species with hundreds of butterflies on the wing at the same time.

“For our native species, we are continuing to plant butterfly-friendly plants in key areas of the Garden and trying to get used to gardening a little less tidily to encourage the different species, some which like long grass to lay their eggs and some like nettles, for instance.”

Another very important message is that we need to avoid using insecticides in our gardens, she added.