Can't help noticing its only the chaps who have posted replies! So being female I can't possibly choose a favorite - if I did I would change my mind in five minutes! On teh list would be Monarchs for sheer scale of numbers & the story of their wonderful migration. Seeing them in the forests of M...

Hi Denise so glad that you found the piece I wrote useful. I have lived here for 25 years & it would be impossible not to garden for butterflies. In 2006 sightings of White Admiral ( on buddleia ) & :!: Purple Emperor brought the total of species seen to 30. I got initial advice & inspir...

I am just SO pleased. That OT on the hyacinths yesterday was not just a fluke! I had given my neighbour some of the same hyacinths & when I visited her today there was a Peacock nectaring on them & it was moving from flower to flower. I do hope all of you will be watching spring bulbs & ...

Yesterday was sunny & warm & I did see my first Orange Tip of the year. However I saw only one peacock & no Brimstones.
I do hope thatthey were not killed by Sunday's snow. Shall be looking extra hard today!

Ny garden is situated in East Hampshire and although it is on the 250’ contour line it is a frost hollow, with the land rising up on three sides. Early flowers for butterflies included celandines and primroses, & I did see these being visited by Brimstones this year. Wild violets are out too &am...

Well Guy's dog looked a lot calmer in the snow than my mad Jack Russell but I guess he /she is a bit more used to the snow than mine, who at 4 years old has scarcely seen snow!

To respond to Dave's query as to how today's snow will affect butterflies - well I keep old diaries. It was 1989 when Hampshire last had significant snowfall in April - a good 5 cm came down at 7pm on the 5th April. I remember it well. It covered the blue bell flowers in my local wood in the hour I ...

Its hard to believe that my East Hampshire garden that just days ago had Brimstones flying over a carpet of primroses, Peacocks dodging around the daffodils and an odd Comma exploring the golden catkins of goat willow is now....

Under a carpet of snow over 5 mm deep.

Hi Folks I am so enjoying reading your replies and having the pleasure of sharing your memories. Loved Guy's wall! I know someone "a grown-up" who has a car roof ceiling decorated in similar manner.

A few years ago I did a survey in my garden. On a really sunny day (probably in July) I stood by about 6 or 8 various plants for ten minutes and listed the butterfly species that visited. As it was a while ago I can't think where the results might now be so please don't ask! However I do remember th...

What are your early memories of butterflies? Many people talked of childhood memories of fields full of butterflies, but sadly I have no such tales to tell! Perhaps I was not very observant or maybe they were not very abundant in the part of Derbyshire where I grew up. I do remember the Large Whites...

According to theTelegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/03/12/eabfly112.xml the timescale is the project will open in June next year and be completed in 2011. I have visited Clive Farrell's own garden and magnificient habitat creation schemes ( on a grand scale!) in Dor...

Like Robin I enjoyed the Photographic Worksop immensely. One of the lectures at the photographic day did not instruct us in the intricacies of camera or computer settings or tempt us with an array of gear that we will now be saving up to buy or supply tips to achieve perfect photos (with use of a tr...

Dear Gruditch What a kind person you must be! So am I :?: :?: Last year I grew nasturtiums for my Large Whites. In gratitude they pupated all over my polytunnel :!: I have also had them breed on the leaves of horse radish so if you like beef & need a piquant accompaniment you can have horse radi...

In the April 2008 issue of Kitchen Garden Magazine there was a letter from someone living at 175metres above sea level in the Shropshire Hills. He had found caterpillars of the Large White on his cauliflowers on 8th January! He was so surprised that rather than pick them off he opted to leave them o...