We've got a Buddleia bush by the back gate that wasn't planted by us it simply set itself and grew against the south facing fence. Now Buddleia aren't known as the 'butterfly bush' for nothing, as soon as the carrot shaped flowers appear on the end of the branches the first insects to arrive are the bees and then the butterflies begin to turn up in numbers, particularly on a sunny day.
Small Whites, Peacocks, Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshell, as above, and now Painted Ladies are all mixed in with the gathering. Apparently this year is a Painted Lady year, the last was 2009, and they all arrive from sub-Saharan Africa with generations dying and reproducing on the way, they're obviously plucky little things. Sadly none will survive our winters so we'll have to wait for the cycle to start again and some years to pass before the next great influx.
Strangely they seem to like gravel as well as the Buddleia.
Strangely they seem to like gravel as well as the Buddleia.
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