Progress report from NW Leicestershire.
Well to my absolute consternation there are NO Red Admirals, Tortoiseshell, or Peacock butterflies at all in my garden this year - normally I see quite a few - is it too early for them - or am I panicking too soon ??
The only butterflies I've seen at all are Whites and Commas
The only plant I've had any success with is the Budleia - and the Whites love it - so I've planted more for next year. The other favourite is Dandelion
All my other plants that I went to so much trouble over aren't all that popular. The Bluebells were of no interest.
Bee's seem to enjoy the Clover flowers on the lawn - so I've let one of my lawn's grow long to leave the Dandelions and Clover flowers
I've also left quite a few Stinging Nettles since I've read that some species lay eggs on them - I wonder if the flowers on the nettles are of interest to butterflies ??
However I'm not going to give up and I'd like to thank everyone for their - suggestions - I've planted more flowers and I'm hoping that eventually help, advice and determination will get some results - I'm quite worried about all the species that seem to have gone missing this year.
Cheers
Paul