Plants for moths
Plants for moths
Can anyone recommend a few species of plants to attract moths to my garden please? I think I read that lavendar, Buddleja and tobacco plants are particularly good, and they liked the borage in my window box last year (but I think that was because of all the honeydew!). Thanks, Andy.
Re: Plants for moths
Apart from the ones you mention Night Flowering Catchfly will bring them in. http://wildseed.co.uk/species/view/129
Re: Plants for moths
Valerian is very good for silver-Y and sometimes hummingbird hawk moths. Honeysuckle and red campion are a couple more I'd recommend. Mind you, just like butterflies, what you want to attract would affect what you grow so if there is a particular type of moth you like then go for their food plant as well as just flowers for nectar.
Re: Plants for moths
my experience has been Buddliea as first choice every time, it attracts various species from micros to some hawkmoths and have found that in the 2 gardens i have had. also The Mullien, Pale Brindled Beauty caterpillars on this.
Lavender but some varieties are better than others and i can't for the life of me remember what i had. but i can say it was bought off herts and middlesex butterfly conservation stand a good few years ago now.
Hemp agrimony, a great all round plant for insects but moths like it too (even had a red tipped clearwing to this),
teucrium chamaedrys (silver-Y mainly) but good bee plant too.
other plants are more specific. Susie mentioned campion, both white and red have attracted both campion and Lychnis moth and can be interesting watching them lay eggs in the flowers.
Honeysuckle, again hawkmothsI have seen as well as caterpillars of early grey, engrailed and 20-plume moth.
Roses for various caterpillars. Vapourer, Early thorn, and grey dagger caterpillars.
Ivy. Old Lady and willow Beauty caterpillars and many a moth for nectar.
Tobacco plants i've not had much luck with but i'm not 100% sure i've had the right variety. Evening Primrose i have only ever seen one moth on in my gardens. but i've had caterpillars on all sorts of other plants too Berberis, Rose of sharon, Fuschia, Apple, Blackthorn, grass, ox-eye daisy, knapweed, clematis, holly, aquilegia,even a copper underwing laid on a potted oak. So pretty much whatever you plant there will be something to visit it.
Lavender but some varieties are better than others and i can't for the life of me remember what i had. but i can say it was bought off herts and middlesex butterfly conservation stand a good few years ago now.
Hemp agrimony, a great all round plant for insects but moths like it too (even had a red tipped clearwing to this),
teucrium chamaedrys (silver-Y mainly) but good bee plant too.
other plants are more specific. Susie mentioned campion, both white and red have attracted both campion and Lychnis moth and can be interesting watching them lay eggs in the flowers.
Honeysuckle, again hawkmothsI have seen as well as caterpillars of early grey, engrailed and 20-plume moth.
Roses for various caterpillars. Vapourer, Early thorn, and grey dagger caterpillars.
Ivy. Old Lady and willow Beauty caterpillars and many a moth for nectar.
Tobacco plants i've not had much luck with but i'm not 100% sure i've had the right variety. Evening Primrose i have only ever seen one moth on in my gardens. but i've had caterpillars on all sorts of other plants too Berberis, Rose of sharon, Fuschia, Apple, Blackthorn, grass, ox-eye daisy, knapweed, clematis, holly, aquilegia,even a copper underwing laid on a potted oak. So pretty much whatever you plant there will be something to visit it.
Re: Plants for moths
Great, thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I'm looking forward to the warmer weather even more now!
Re: Plants for moths
Agree with the campions, but I find bladder campion more practical than white campion, as being a perennial it requires less gardening!
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Dave McCormick
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Re: Plants for moths
I got a butterfly mix 5 gram packet of seeds. It has Betony, birds-foot trefoil, common bugle, meadow buttercup, wild candytuft, red clover, colt's foot, daisy, oxeye daisy, dandelion, dead-nettle, feverfew, autumn and rough hawk-bit, hawkweed, knapweed, corn marigold, wild marjoram, wild pansy, primrose, ragged robin, common rock rose, St Johns wort, small scabious, sefheal, sheeps-bit, thrift, common toadflax, lesser trefoil, kidney and horeshoe vetch, sweet violet and yarrow
Also got some corn marigold, wild strawberry, rosebay willowherb, devils-bit scabious, water mint and yellow flag seeds. Thought this would make a good butterfly habitat in my garden if I planted willows around the edge of my garden. I prefer native plants over non native so that seed mix should be good for this. I am moving house in April to (hopefully) one thats near a bog with marsh fritillary breeding in it, so if I get the house, may have marsh fritillary breeding in my garden in future (or so I hope) but have to wait and see. Going to also get honeysuckle to attract early grey, twenty-plume and those that feed on the flowers (hawk moths)
Also will be moving my blackcurrant and blueberry bushes to my new garden and x2 birch and my cherry tree. Be interesting to see what appears after this.
Some good seed mixes here that may do your job (depending on what you want): http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/p ... #Butterfly meadow
Also got some corn marigold, wild strawberry, rosebay willowherb, devils-bit scabious, water mint and yellow flag seeds. Thought this would make a good butterfly habitat in my garden if I planted willows around the edge of my garden. I prefer native plants over non native so that seed mix should be good for this. I am moving house in April to (hopefully) one thats near a bog with marsh fritillary breeding in it, so if I get the house, may have marsh fritillary breeding in my garden in future (or so I hope) but have to wait and see. Going to also get honeysuckle to attract early grey, twenty-plume and those that feed on the flowers (hawk moths)
Also will be moving my blackcurrant and blueberry bushes to my new garden and x2 birch and my cherry tree. Be interesting to see what appears after this.
Some good seed mixes here that may do your job (depending on what you want): http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/p ... #Butterfly meadow
Cheers all,
My Website: My new website: http://daveslepidoptera.com/ - Last Update: 11/10/2011
My Nature videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/DynamixWarePro
My Website: My new website: http://daveslepidoptera.com/ - Last Update: 11/10/2011
My Nature videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/DynamixWarePro
Re: Plants for moths
I've found a wild flower seed mix on the website recommended by Dave for attracting bats/moths to gardens:
http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/p ... htm#21042A
http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/p ... htm#21042A
Re: Plants for moths
Two plants I recommend for moths are the wild plants Greater Mullein and Dark Mullein. Both have yellow flowers and the latter is less tall. These are very likely to be used as larval foodplants by the Mullein moth, which has very attractive caterpillars.
A garden flower - Verbascum phoeniceum hybrids can be chosen as an alternative to Dark Mullein and they come in shades of pink and mauve. Garden centes sell plants or they can be grown from seed and will generally flower the following year. There are also garden varieties of Greater Mullein too.
A garden flower - Verbascum phoeniceum hybrids can be chosen as an alternative to Dark Mullein and they come in shades of pink and mauve. Garden centes sell plants or they can be grown from seed and will generally flower the following year. There are also garden varieties of Greater Mullein too.