We have some mint growing at the back gate, it was moved to this beautifully sunny place because it was struggling to grow in an old sink and now it's chest high and could easily be classified as feral mint.
The butterflies love the lavender coloured flowers and, in the sunny weather, there have been dozens at a time on the plants sucking the nectar from the flowers. A neighbour said they were Painted Ladies but on checking we found that they're actually the Small Tortoiseshell. Growing close by there are lots of nettles and that plant is the primary food of their caterpillars so for the Small Tortoiseshell a lovely bit of serendipity.
They're lovely but I do still quite like the idea of painted ladies at the back gate.
Well you can but dream.
It's good to see Small Tortoiseshells about this year as their numbers had plummeted. If you can, please report sightings to http://butterfly-conservation.org/9323/big-butterfly-count-2016.html , they have specifically asked for Small Tortoiseshell sightings to get a picture of its recovery across the country.
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