Buddleia Davidii

[jhewitt15]

The buddleia bush in our back garden has finally started to flower. Last year there were lots of butterflies on it eg. peacock, tortoishell, admiral

this year I havent seen any butterflies on it and already some flowers are starting to go over. why are there no butterflies!

[witham]

your Buddlia must be much further on than ours here, we have loads of flowers but no colour yet so am hoping we will attract some butterflies soon as I've seen precious few so far this year, we have deep purple, light purple, red and white Buddlias so they can pick their favourite colour

[maggot at toad hall]

I'm experiencing the same problem in Devon. The Buddleia are still flowering, but very few butterflies. Whilst many like the warmth that comes with climate change, the wet weather has not helped them at all. I've not seen any painted ladies yet, so they have stayed south. Some caterpillars that over-winter need the colder climate and don't survive it is too warm and wet. There have also been reports of a tiny parasitoid fly, Sturmia bella that lays its eggs in the leaves of nettles. It came over from the continent and was reported in 1999. These eggs get eaten along with the nettle and later emerge before the caterpillar can morph into a butterfly. There are many concerns regarding the drop in the butterfly poplation. eg: David Attenborough is trying to get land owners and farmers to give consideration to wildlife habitation zones. It seems there are a few causes but in my book, I believe the sudden alarming drop has to be due to the prolonged warm but wet weather.

[Kayleigh]

You might find this interesting..

Attenborough launches project to stem butterfly decline | Environment | guardian.co.uk

[aeshna5]

I've seen loads of flowering Buddleja recently + I don't think I've seen a single butterfly on them or many other insects, just a few bees.

[ChrisJB]

Originally Posted by jhewitt15

The buddleia bush in our back garden has finally started to flower. Last year there were lots of butterflies on it eg. peacock, tortoishell, admiral

This year I havent seen any butterflies on it and already some flowers are starting to go over. why are there no butterflies!

Buddleias are flowering early around here this summer and are not coinciding with the late summer hatch of red admirals, small tortoiseshells and peacocks. Saying that, these species have been so scant this year, that it will be a poor hatch anyway.
You can prune your buddleias a little later in the spring and they will flower later to coincide with the main hatch. Here in Lancs I never prune mine until the end of the first week in April and it usually coincides pretty well. To prolong flowering you can also dead head the primary flowering bloom and the side blooms will last longer.

Regards, Chris

[Susie]

Some of my buddleias are flowering too but all I have seen on them is the very occasional bee and one Old Lady moth nectaring at night.

[cat72uk]

my buddleia is growing its flower spikes now
and my rowan is covered in bright red berries
i dont think the plants know if they are coming or going becuse of the strange weather

[JennyS]

I've got several buddleia's that flower at slightly different times - never seem to be butterflies on the early ones (flowering now) though there are on the ones flowering in a couple of weeks time ....... but the numbers definitely seem to be decreasing

[mrs fish]

No Butterflies on the Buddleia but plenty of Hoverflies and Bees, one bush had seven Volucella zonnarias on it