Date/Time
Date(s) - 12/07/2024
7:30 pm
Location
Kilmington Village Hall
Categories
Martin Young made a welcome return on Friday, 12th July, and the aim of his talk was to encourage us to use plants in our gardens that attract butterflies and bees. Pollination is essential for the cultivation of commercial crops, and vital for the health and wellbeing of our own gardens.
Martin illustrated his talk with photos of many butterflies and highlighted where they choose to lay their eggs – nettles being a favourite for red admiral, small tortoiseshell, painted lady and comma butterflies. Cabbage white butterflies favour laying their eggs on brassicas (cabbages, cauliflowers, etc.) He also illustrated the wide range of bees which are native to the UK.
Bees and butterflies are in decline in the UK owing to climate change, the use of pesticides, changes in gardening styles and probably because of disease. However, they are attracted by nectar and whilst collecting it, they pollinate flowers. Knowing which plants attract these pollinators is key to having them in our gardens -for example, many plants which attract pollinators have large, colourful flowers and they tend to be sun lovers. On the other hand, some plants will tolerate shade and are good for insects, such as Primrose, Mahonia, Hellebore and Sarcoccoca (Sweet Box).
Apart from bees and butterflies, lots of insects are beneficial because they eat other pests such as greenfly. Ladybirds, Lacewings and Wasps eat thousands of aphids in their lifetime.
Without listing every plant, there are some important things to remember about the seasons. The first Bumble Bees need food as soon as they emerge in early spring – Primroses, Cherry blossom, Hellebores and Aubretia are ideal. Butterflies and Bees need food in autumn before they hibernate and try to survive the winter (they convert sugars to fats to try and survive the cold). Sedums, Michaelmas Daisies and fallen fruit provide a late feed. Martin suggested trying to provide a range of plants to attract these important insects between February and October – single flowers are much better than fancy double flowers. A useful list is provided on the Wildlife Trust website: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions/best-plants-bees-and-pollinators. Martin’s top butterfly plant is the Buddleia.
Do not use insecticide sprays, but if you absolutely need to because other measures have failed, spray early in the morning before butterflies and bees have taken to the wing.
The message from this talk was that we can all do our bit to encourage bees and butterflies by planting plants that provide nectar and reducing, if not eliminating, our use of pesticides. Martin provided an extensive list of nectar plants for all seasons, and, as space is limited here, if you contact me, I am happy to supply a copy.