GINA PARKINSON has advice on how to garden in order to attract butterflies and other insects –  and it’s not all hard work, as an untidy garden seems to help.

BUTTERFLIES have been visiting our garden in droves this summer. It is such a thrill to see them fluttering about the plants as soon as the sun comes. Although numbers are dwindling at an alarming rate nationally, it is good to see that at least some can survive in this suburban area.

The first to arrive in mid-April were a couple of Brimstones when the weather began to warm up after the long winter. They seem to have disappeared, to be replaced by numerous whites, as well as some peacocks and a few differing smaller brown or cream speckled species I couldn’t identify.

We also have a number of different moths this summer, especially in the overgrown area at the bottom of the garden. I think of this as the ‘wild’ area, although in truth it is simply a neglected spot that time hasn’t allowed for any maintenance this year.

Feeling guilty, I tried to pull the bindweed and nettles up earlier this week, only to disturb a crowd of small whitish moths. So this part of the garden will be left for a while longer before it is tackled.

An untidy garden seems to be the way to keep the butterfly and moth population happy. They need a sunny spot to rest and warm themselves in summer and places to hibernate in winter.

Some butterfly species will hibernate as adults, while others will get through the cold as eggs, larvae or chrysalis. It’s not unusual to discover butterflies in sheds and garages as the weather warms up in spring. Just leave the door open for them and they will usually find their own way out. Hollow trees and log piles, especially in a warm spot, also provide shelter.

Brambles, nettles, holly and ivy will provide food and shelter for a number of butterfly and moth species and their larvae.

In smaller spaces it isn’t always possible to provide the space for these plants, but plenty of other plants offer food for these creatures. In our garden this year they honed in on the buddleia as soon as it opened. This shrub really is a magnet for butterflies. They will spend hours gong around each of the tiny flowers that mass together to form the long blooms.

The whites have also liked the flowers of a sprawling hardy pink geranium which is usually cut back at this time of year. Some has been tidied up to allow the new leaves to come through, but some has been left for the butterflies to enjoy the last of the blooms.

Planting for butterflies and moths can be as easy as providing nectar-rich plants such as buddleia, honeysuckle, lavender and Sedum spectabile, and night-scented plants such as summer Jasmine, night scented stock, honeysuckle and evening primrose.

If you get the bug, then life becomes more complicated with certain species needing specific plants and conditions. Then there is the food source for caterpillars, some of which unfortunately enjoy those lovely brassicas out in the veg garden and the nasturtiums edging the path.

That is perhaps a thought for another day.


Taste and flavour show

YORK Organic Gardeners Association (YOGA) will hold its annual Taste and Flavour Fruit and Vegetable Show at Brunswick Organic Nursery, Appleton Road, Bishopthorpe next Saturday, August 31.

As always this show is about the taste of the produce rather than the appearance – crooked carrots and asymmetrical aubergine all welcome. As well as the classes for a range of fruit and vegetables, there is also a children’s section for young people up to the age of 11 years and classes for baking and jam making.

This is a friendly show with members and non-members of YOGA welcome to attend, the only stipulation being that the exhibits have been grown organically or are made with organic ingredients. Just come along at 10am on the day of the show with the produce and entry fee ready to place it in the exhibition area ready for judging.

Entries to the show need to be ready for judging by noon. The entry fee is 25p per entry. Judging takes place between noon and 2pm (I will be one of the judges again this year), then there is public viewing until 3pm, after which there will be the prize giving.

Homemade refreshments are available at the nursery café, as well as plants and gardening sundries to wander around.

For more information visit yorkorganicgardenersassociation.org.uk or phone Sue Bond 01759 302147.


Garden show

FLOWER Power Fairs is holding a Bank Holiday show on Monday at Newburgh Priory, Coxwold, YO61 4AS. This is a wonderful setting for the exhibitors with 40 acres of grounds, gardens, water gardens and a lake.

Seventeen nurseries will attend the show and will be selling a wide range of plants, including late summer-flowering perennials to brighten up the garden now and spring plants and bulbs to look forward to next year.

The café and car park will be manned by the Wombwell family, who own the property, and friends. With the forecast looking fair, it should be good day out. Nearby Coxwold is a pretty village with a church, pub and also Shandy Hall which itself has a lovely garden.

Newburgh plant fair is open from 11am to 4pm, entry to the show is £3 per person and includes access to the grounds and gardens, but not the house which has a separate entry. Parking for the fair is free.


Gardening TV and Radio

Tomorrow

7.30am, BBC2, Around the World in 80 Gardens. Monty Don explores gardens in America.

8am, BBC Radio Humberside, The Great Outdoors. With Blair Jacobs and Doug Stewart.

8.30am, BBC2, Gardeners’ World.

9am, BBC2, The Beechgrove Garden. Growing chillies in the greenhouse.

9am, BBC Radio York, Julia Lewis.

9am, BBC Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.

2pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chris Beardshaw, Bob Flowerdew, Matthew Wilson and chairman Peter Gibbs are in Norfolk where they answer questions from the audience at Gressenhall Museum near Dereham.

Friday

3pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chairman Eric Robson and panellists Bunny Guinness, Anne Swithinbank and Matthew Wilson advise gardeners at the Kensington Roof Gardens in London.

8.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners’ World. What to grow in dry shade under a tree or hedge and how to take fuchsia and pelargonium cuttings.