ALL THESE I LEARNT BY ROBERT BYRON If I have a son, he shall salute the lords and ladies who unfurl green hoods to the March rains, and shall know them afterwards by their scarlet fruit. He shall know the celandine, and the frigid, sightless flowers of the woods, spurge and spurge laurel, dogs’ merc...

Well obviously some of the April ones are still blooming but I thought I would set this off so people can add in their observations of useful plants in their gardens. Lets hope weather will warm up & butterflies will start breeding. With that in mind here are some suggestions for larval foodplan...

Denise I am just so thrilled you found Matthew's book, Although lots of gardening for butterflies books exist I think that one is really good. It is written by a real butterfly expert & I just love teh touches of humour in it too!

I can't think of any questions but having seen LB a few time sjust say a really big Thank you for introducing this sub species and giving us back the Large Blue experience!

Another April plant for the list - I saw a Holly Blue nectaring on Alkanet - a wild flower which can be a bit invasive in gardens but which has lovely blue flowers.

Tips for those new to watching butterflies ( or sorting out old photos). To sort out the Gatekeeepers from the MBs - look at the black spot on the wing - GK have two white dots in theirs - ( remember gates have two posts) MBs have just one as do SH's Meadow Browns are bigger but beware oddities do o...

Re Cattle grazing Perseus is right to point out that cattle grazing can be disastrous. IF it is done in the wrong way at the wrong time or is too heavy plants and butterflies will suffer. There are without doubt several species of butterfly that prefer ungrazed or lightly grazed swards and these nee...

In June 2006 I visited the Isle of Wight with a few butterfly friends. We stayed at a country house in St Laurence which had been the home of Alfred Noyes and his family still lived there. So you wonder who was Alfred Noyes. Well if you had to learn poems at school you might remember … The Highwayma...

Propogating buddleias A PS When considering the question "When is it the right time to root cuttings?" the answer is... If a cutting is available its the right time! July is possibly best time for them to root quickly but I usually find they take ok anytime in a 5" shallow plant pot i...

Re the different buddleias butterflies find attractive.. Last summer I visited Longstock Nursery near Stockbridge in Hampshire - they hold the National collection of buddleias there and it is a great way to actually see which cultivars the butterflies prefer. On the basis of the butterflies choice I...

Hi Rosy, That's really interesting about Globe Artichokes :!: Have you got Echinops ritro Globe Thistle in your garden too? I know that PL's bred on that. When we had the huge influx in May 1996 some one I know found larva on globe thistles in a garden centre in Hampshire. He wanted to make sure the...

Last year I bought another erysimum - a nice soft orange, but never had any butterflies on it so the fact I have forgotten it's name does not really matter :oops: Anyway on Thursday I bought Erysimum 'My old mum' described as soft primrose buds changing to cream splashed lavender purple & said t...

Hi Chris I can understand your disappointment at not locating your local Dukes. Even when I visit sites where I know they are present they are not the easiest of species to see. You probably are following both of these statagies but these suggestions may help others locate their elusive butterfly! (...

Noted comments by Perseus re cattle grazing - all I can do is report what works for us! People will see that views on the efficacy of grazing with cattle obviously vary. It is of concern to me that newcomers to conservation might be feeling a bit confused! I am always willing to discuss what we do b...

Hi Rosy Rustic How did it go with the beer traps? Did you attract any British males (see preferred nectar plants 17th April) Brian wrote .... I see what you're getting at here, Guy! British males tend to be more interested in football and beer than larval host plants, whilst the females (Essex in pa...

Dear Rosy Rustic (and anyone else who is fed up of feeding the local slug and snail population with their precious plants!)

here is the link to control advice on the Garden Organic web site.

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/factsheets/pc20.php

Hope that helps

GS & cattle! I think our experience at Butterfly Conservation's Magdalen Hill Down reserve near Winchester would support a view that cattle grazing done at the right time ie winter months does not harm GS colonies, indeed the effects in creating bare ground & nice micro habitats in hoof prin...

Three Small Tortoiseshells were seen by the person walking the transect at Magdalen Hill Down Extension today. She said it was the most she had seen together for years. Odd ones had been seen a few weeks back by our warden Patrick Fleet

Patrick Fleet saw two Grizzled Skippers and a Green Hairstreak at Magdalen Hill Down, Butterfly Conservation's reserve at Winchester yesterday.We think are these are the first of the season so a bit exciting. Grizzled Skippers on are on the up and up here largely due we think to the good effects of ...

Aren't slugs fascinating! Hot topic! Denise, I have been an organic gardener for 25 years, belieiing in a balance of nature establishing itself. Unfortunately slugs do not seem to have this philosophy. A technique I use a lot to protect my precious plants is to use sacrificial plants ( amazing what ...