'Butterflying up' the garden

Last year, we saw 16 butterfly species in our garden. Given the size of our front and back garden, I think that's a pretty decent number, and one that certainly sets a benchmark for this and future years. 

The most popular plant in the 'wild flower meadow' front garden was Verbena, which will no doubt attract butterflies again this year. We decided to add some Knautia as well as replace a dying Azalea with two Buddleia bushes (one with white flowers, one with purple flowers); can't go wrong with Buddleia, can you?

In the back garden, a single large Buddleia bush was the real butterfly magnet last year. We put pots with Liatris, Hebe, mint, rosemary, lavender, thyme and marjoram around it. Hopefully, this larger and more varied patch of butterfly plants will be even more attractive than the single Buddleia bush.

The first few garden butterflies have already been spotted: three peacocks and two brimstones. We'll see over the next half a year or so whether the additions have worked and attracted more butterflies to the garden. Fingers crossed; expect a 'Garden list 2021' post come October!