I would like to pick up a butterfly book that is easy to read and is probably best described as a field guide. The points that I would like covered are as follows; British Butterflies only. Gives info and maps on distribution Foodplants. Time of year to be seen Photo of each butterfly Photo of cater...

I bought a Canon G9 on the recomendation of a couple of people on this site and found it to be perfect for my needs. The downsides, not to me but some people maybe, are it is quite bulky and heavy compared to some others and it has an awful lot of features that I don't know how to use but to someone...

Thanks for the Mega-fast reply, I'll check it out shortly.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've now settled for the Cannon G9. I did a bit of research and then tried a couple and it seemed quite a way ahead of the others. The biggest difference that I've noticed is that previously I might take 10 photos and find that 1 was ok where as now it seems that 9 out of...

Loads of Red Admirals in the garden today. I went out for about 10 mins this afternoon and found the Hemp Agrimony covered in them, about 20+, there were also 2 peacocks 2 small whites and 2 brown things (don't really know what they were but I'll guess Wall Browns from the pictures in the book as th...

I would not recommend Hemp Agrimony (American version) for dry sandy soil from everything that I have read recently. It seems to like heavy damp/wet soil (mines in permanently damp clay) and a bit of sunlight. My father has sandy soil and Verbena seems to grow very well in it and attracts plenty of ...

I kind of picked up on this thread via the buddliea thread as I am slowly trying to work my way through them all. Now I am not an expert or have any particular knowledge of Ragwort but I do know that there are hundreds of plants out there that can kill or at least make both animals and humans very i...

I forgot to mention earlier, I have a patch of bluebells but I have yet to see a single butterfly on them in about 8 years. They still look good though and are very in keeping with a natural British garden and give some nice early colour to the garden in a fairly shady spot.
cheers Dave

Are Butterfly boxes that you see in most garden centres just a con or do they actually work? I am keen to give the local wildlife in my garden as much help as possible and have several nest boxes and a hedgehog box which are all used, but think that these butterfly boxes might just be a con to get a...

I think that it is important to find out what type of garden you have as many plants will only grow well in certain conditions and also what butterflies ,insects and birds you might hope to attract. Mine are all grown to attract the local species but it might be very different where you are. I have ...

I'm new to this site so thought I'd better say hello. I'm thoroughly enjoying the site and have already had a couple of posts answered most helpfully. I'm not really a butterfly specialist but mainly enjoy general gardening for wildlife, I should point out that I only have a small garden(about 35ft ...

Seems that more thanks are due. It is the American version of Hemp Agimony as I went to Bridgemere garden centre and they told me that it is Eupatorium Purpureium and it does grow taller than the UK version.

Hi, I am looking for a little NON TECHNICAL advice and some of the pictures on this site seem to be very good and a lot of people seem to know what they are talking about. I want to buy a new camera for around £300 but it must be simple to use ie point and click. Some requirements that I would like;...

Many Thanks for everyones help. It is definately Hemp Agrimony although mine seems to be a bit larger than the average size if it is only supposed to grow to about 5 ft.
Thanks to Denise and Polly who worked it out from my poor description and pics.

Hi Dave, It sounds to me, although I am no genius in the garden, like a mature clump of Verbena Bonaris. Do the flower heads look like this? Denise Thanks for the suggestion but definately not Verbena. A Friend has added 2 pictures into my photo gallery (I'm not too good with computers) titled &quo...

I have managed to add 2 pictures in to the photo gallery titled plants and plants 2 but I can't work out how to add the pictures to this post. (the pictures were taken in the rain so no butterflies) Hello I am new to this forum and I'm hoping someone can tell me the name of a plant that I have that ...