Grow a Secret Garden for Butterflies to Celebrate the Release Of

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Grow a secret garden for butterflies To celebrate the release of

IN CINEMAS SPRING 2020

Green-veined white © Jon Hawkins Why are Did you know?

Caterpillars can butterflies great? grow 10,000-fold in just a few weeks Butterflies can – that’s like a baby We love butterflies. They’re vibrant, eye-catching cross continents! growing to the size Painted ladies migrate additions to our gardens, but so much more than that. of a sperm whale! north from Africa every The UK has 59 They are helpful pollinators. When butterflies land on year, at a speed of up to species of butterfly and 30 miles per hour. flowers to feed on nectar, they transfer pollen. around 2,500 moths, although there’s actually very little difference Butterflies, moths and their caterpillars A secret garden between butterflies and are important in the food chain, being We’ve been inspired by the moths. In fact, there’s an argument for considering prey to many species of birds and bats. new movie adaptation of The them the same You may also see garden birds taking Secret Garden and just like us animal! caterpillars to feed to their young in the the filmmakers are passionate about spring and summer. It can take up to butterflies! Gardening is an essential part 10,000 caterpillars to rear a brood of of The Secret Garden story and blue tits! we’re encouraging everybody to garden with butterflies in mind! They need our help Butterflies are good environmental In the story, the garden eases grief, heals indicators. This means that if butterfly rifts and brings the joy out in all who populations are going up or down, we experience it. Make a special place for get a good sense of how well the rest of wildlife – your very own Secret Garden the environment is doing. Butterflies where you can replenish your soul, and moths aren’t doing too well at the reconnect with nature and help moment, with many species declining in wildlife to thrive. recent years.

The good news is that we can help butterflies and moths through gardening! The swallowtail The brimstone could be the very first Collectively our gardens can provide butterfly is our butterfly. There’s a important places, homes and food largest butterfly theory that its bright sources for these special creatures. with a wingspan of almost 10cm. yellow wings inspired the name butter- coloured fly.

2 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk Red admiral © Guy Edwardes/2020Vision Comma © Amy Lewis www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 3 Top butterfly plants to lure Planting for in the butterflies Spring: Primroses, sweet William, native bluebells, bugle, forget-me- butterflies & moths not, cuckoo flower. Summer: Cornflower, French A sunny, sheltered garden is ideal for tempting in marigold, knapweed, marjoram, scabious, thistle, purple loosestrife, butterflies. With the right flowers you could make a hemp agrimony, bramble, and many mini haven for all sorts of wildlife. herbs, including, marjoram, thyme, lavender and sage. Autumn: Flowering ivy, asters, ice plant, hebe, buddleia, verbena. Many flowers provide both pollen and Along with the plant options on the nectar so will attract a range of visitors, following page, you could include an open and sometimes the clue is in the shape. area for wildflowers and grasses to attract Top larval food plants Many flowers of the daisy family, such egg-laying females. A site with low soil as sunflowers and asters, help to attract fertility is ideal. Seek out butterfly mixes Lady’s-smock, Cardamine pratensis butterflies and bees with their flat, open from wildflower seed suppliers. (orange-tip butterfly), good for tops, perfect for landing. Other flowers wetter soil. in the campion and honeysuckle families have narrow tubular centres, which Planning your butterfly Bird’s foot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus moths and butterflies may have exclusive garden... (common blue butterfly). access to by making use of their long Common sorrel, Rumex acetosa tongues. Brush-like flowers, like buddleia, Plant large clumps of larval food (small copper butterfly). also make for good resting places and plants together. Fescue grass, Festuca sp nectar access. (meadow brown butterfly). Aim for year-round flower interest, An ideal butterfly garden would include with early and late sources of nectar. Holly, Ilex aquifolium (holly blue butterfly). a wide range of flower shapes, full of seasonal perennials that offer nectar for Only use peat-free compost to help Ivy, Hedera helix early arrivals such as brimstones, through prevent damage to rare habitats. (holly blue butterfly). to the last red admirals in autumn. But it’s Nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus also important to think about caterpillars Delay cutting back in the autumn, (large white, small white and green- – even if you spot a few holes in your tidying borders in later winter instead. veined white butterflies). plants remember, the more caterpillars Yorkshire fog grass, Holcus lanatus you can support, the more butterflies Don’t use pesticides: these can (marbled white, speckled wood and and moths there will be! affect all garden wildlife. small skipper butterflies). Stinging nettles, Urtica dioica (comma, peacock, red admiral and small tortoiseshell), requires a large area.

Green-veined white © RHS 4 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 5 6 Plant a butterfly box... www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk

Plant a butterfly border... www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 7 A butterfly garden in action

A sunny wall provides a sunbathing spot for butterflies

Hops, holly and nettles provide food for caterpillars

A long season of nectar-rich flowers means you can cater for as many butterflies as possible.

8 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk Lifecycle of moths Pollen collectors Like bees and other flower visitors, moths and butterflies are helpful pollinators. By spreading pollen from plant and butterflies to plant, these insects help plants to reproduce. Many butterflies and moths spend the majority of their lives in the caterpillar or pupal stages. In fact, our pollinators not only help plants Night workers to reproduce, they ensure that we can Moths tend to seek out white and lighter enjoy fruits and many vegetables such as coloured flowers as they are easier to A good food supply is crucial to allow Seeking shelter tomatoes, peppers and courgettes too. see in the dark. A study carried out with caterpillars to turn into adults, so the There are 59 species of butterfly and university researchers and Butterfly most valuable gardens leave plenty of more than 2,500 moths in Britain. While they cannot carry as much pollen Conservation found that moths are also room for these hungry young! Several species of butterfly – including as some bees, which have specially created important pollinators for agricultural brimstone, comma, small tortoiseshell and ‘sacs’ for storage, butterflies collect pollen crops – carrying pollen over large Typically, caterpillars hatch from eggs laid peacock – overwinter as adults and will on their legs and bodies as they gather distances in the cover of dark. by adult females after two weeks. Once seek out sheltered spots in late autumn nectar, carrying it from flower to flower. the caterpillar has eaten enough, it sheds to lay dormant until the spring. Others its skin for the last time and turns into overwinter as eggs, caterpillars or pupae. a pupa. It is within this cocoon that the caterpillar will metamorphose into the adult butterfly. Butterflies on the move Painted ladies leave our shores each autumn for North Africa. Other exotic species, such as the famed monarch, migrate thousands of kilometres at the end of each summer to find suitable areas to overwinter.

As the climate has warmed in recent years, some butterflies once understood to only migrate to Britain for the summer months are now thought to overwinter here, such as red Movie fact: Magical admirals. This doesn’t mean that butterflies come to life and flourish in the movie. Their changing weather patterns extraordinary transformation are good news for butterflies mirrors the emotional journey of though, as populations can be the key characters. As they feel pushed out of natural ranges happier the magical butterflies and may face steep declines. become more real and are able to fly.

Common blue © Bob Coyle Large skipper © RHS 10 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 11 Take notice of nature Match the adult to Green spaces make us feel happier and more relaxed, so nab spend a moment in your garden taking notice of what the caterpillar... Cin ar m ot insects and flowers you can see. h ell

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Burnet moth caterpillar © Vicky Nall 12 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 13 Butterfly identification Moth identification

Orange-tip (male) Hummingbird Brimstone (male) hawk-moth

Common blue Garden tiger (female) Burnished brass Red admiral Cinnabar

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Elephant Painted lady hawk-moth Peacock

Angle shades Six-spot burnet Meadow brown (female) Large yellow underwing

Holly blue (female)

Large white Peppered moth (female) Illustrations not to scale 14 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 15 About Us The Wildlife Trusts and the RHS set up Wild About

Gardens to celebrate wildlife gardening and to wildaboutgardens.org.uk encourage people to act for nature. Over the past 50 years we’ve seen declines in two thirds of the UK’s plant and animal species. Many of our common @WildAbtGardens garden visitors are increasingly under threat.

To discover more about wildlife gardening and what facebook.com/groups/ you can do to help at home visit us online. WildAboutGardens

The Wildlife Trusts The Royal Horticultural Society

We are a charity that believes that For more than 210 years, the RHS has people are a part of nature; everything been the force behind gardening in the we value ultimately comes from it and UK. Our aim is to enrich everyone’s life everything we do has an impact on it. No through plants, and to make the UK a matter where you are in the UK, there is greener and more beautiful place. We a Wildlife Trust inspiring people about believe everyone in every village, town the natural world and saving, protecting and city should benefit from growing and standing up for wildlife and wild – for stronger, healthier and happier places. More than 850,000 members communities. support our work and help look after email: [email protected] more than 2,300 diverse and beautiful Online: rhs.org.uk nature reserves. @The_RHS /rhshome email: [email protected] Online: wildlifetrusts.org the_rhs rhshome

@WildlifeTrusts Registered Charity No 222879/SC038262

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IN CINEMAS SPRING 2020

Match the butterfly: From the producers of Paddington, Harry Potter Small tortoiseshell - D and Fantastic Beasts comes a visionary new Peacock - E Cinnabar moth - B adaptation of one of the world’s most enduring Brown argus - C children’s stories – The Secret Garden. When 10- Large white - A year old orphan Mary Lennox is sent to live with Cover image: Green-veined white, Jon Hawkins, Surrey her reclusive uncle Archibald (Colin Firth) and his Hills Photography strict housekeeper Mrs Medlock (Julie Walters) in a mysterious manor, she discovers an enchanted and boundless garden that has been hidden for years…