Love Bugs

BLESSED ARE THE POLLINATORS, THE NOISE MAKERS AND THE SAP SUCKERS, ADDING COLOUR AND MOVEMENT TO THE SUMMER GARDEN

- Claire Bickle

Years of living with my grandmother and countless hours spent in the garden gave me a true appreciation of and sense of wonderment about the natural world: plants, seasons and wildlife.

That included insects and their close relatives. We spent many an afternoon going through books to identify a caterpillar or beetle we had found earlier in the day.

Nowadays, when delivering my workshops on creating backyard habitat, I ask the question: how can we expect the next generation to care for the planet when we ourselves have lost our connection to nature?

Observation and curiosity are the keys to maintaining healthy natural ecosystems within our urban spaces. Be a backyard observer. Take the time to truly see what insect activity is going on in your location. The more there is, the healthier the habitat. Here are some summer favourites.

BUTTERFLY BEAUTY

Butterflies are loved for their noticeably vibrant and colourful wings. But the butterfly isn’t just a pretty face; it’s also an important pollinator in the garden and further afield. Their caterpillars are also a food source for many other insects, birds and wildlife.

When trying to encourage more butterflies into your garden, planting more flowers is an important, positive start but it’s not the only thing you can do. Growing host plants is also critical to maintain butterfly populations.

Host plants are the plants on which the female adult butterfly will lay her eggs and each species of butterfly has its own favoured plant species for this purpose.

In times of drought and limited flowers, you can put out butterfly nectar drinks.

Richmond birdwing butterfly, Ornithoptera Richmond