"Butterfly Gardens"
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 11:59 am
Hi,
A colleague of mine is in the process of 'growing his own butterflies' having bought a "Butterfly Garden" and been sent his 5 Painted Lady caterpillars. If all goes according to plan he should end up with 5 butterflies which he is then instructed to release into the big wide world. His garden isn't as butterfly friendly as it could be and he was wondering if it would be better to take them to a local wood which has areas managed for butterflies and release them there instead. I know that they can fly thousands of miles in search of food but I just wondered if anyone was aware of any reasons why he shouldn't do this, upset local butterfly populations in any way? or is it a case of the more the merrier and we should all be doing this each year?
Mike G.
A colleague of mine is in the process of 'growing his own butterflies' having bought a "Butterfly Garden" and been sent his 5 Painted Lady caterpillars. If all goes according to plan he should end up with 5 butterflies which he is then instructed to release into the big wide world. His garden isn't as butterfly friendly as it could be and he was wondering if it would be better to take them to a local wood which has areas managed for butterflies and release them there instead. I know that they can fly thousands of miles in search of food but I just wondered if anyone was aware of any reasons why he shouldn't do this, upset local butterfly populations in any way? or is it a case of the more the merrier and we should all be doing this each year?
Mike G.