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The Herald Scotland

Here is my guide to attracting butterflies to your garden

I noted that here in Scotland the Butterfly Count had identified a 79% reduction in Red Admiral numbers, 62% Painted Lady and 74% Comma. The problem had possibly been exacerbated by the sunless summer we endured. Our Scottish weather was especially bad for butterflies as they find it well nigh impossible to fly and forage in these conditions. In fact, the wind's now howling outside as I write and there's plenty of the wet stuff coming out of the sky, so butterflies will be few and far between at the moment. Read more These conditions meant my findings for Small Tortoiseshell butterflies took a serious dip last year; in fact I saw none in the garden all summer. Although this was very disappointing, I've been delighted to see three of them at once during the recent dry, so the B.C.'s 84% decline since 2020 may not be reflected in everyone's garden. We can help Butterfly Conservation assess populations by participating in this year's Big Butterfly Count. It runs till Sunday August 10. If you'd like as to take part, visit sign up, download the app and submit your results. All you need to do is choose a sunny day, select a popular spot for butterflies and count the numbers of each species you see over a 15 minute period. To help identify the different species, the charity has included illustrations of the species we can see in Scotland, so you might want to spend a little time identifying in advance any species you don't already know. As part of the BTO's [British Trust for Ornithology] Garden Bird Survey, this charity invites participants to record butterfly as well as bird numbers and I've just been able to look at our records for last year and compare the trends here with Butterfly Conservation's general results. Interestingly, although B.C. has recorded that Peacock butterflies have declined by 42% since 2010, I see more of them than any other species here. In fact, they actually overwinter here and you can see pretty faded specimens emerging in spring and, later, lots of the next generation hard at working building up their resources by sipping as much nectar as possible in preparation for winter hibernation. So we gardeners really can make a difference for butterflies by providing plenty of nectar-rich flowers over the summer and autumn. Plant of the week Origanum vulgare, Origano/Wild Marjoram (Image: unknown) Origanum vulgare, Origano/Wild Marjoram, is a truly all purpose plant. The small, aromatic, rounded leaves are essential flavouring for many dishes; fresh or dried. The dense clusters of pink flowers are very attractive both to gardeners and to butterflies, bees and hoverflies. Grow in well drained soil in sun for the best flavour and aroma. Cutting back in late autumn is the only maintenance required.