Butterfly Conservation Card

All of the plants on this Butterfly Conservation card are very good sources of nectar for bees, butterflies and moths. Two particularly strong nectar sources are marjoram and hemp-agrimony.  

Marjoram – 20 species use it as a foodplant

Yarrow – 39 species of butterfly and moth use it as a foodplant: but preferably the white flowered native not its coloured cultivars

Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil – 45 species as a foodplant

Field Scabious (not its cultivars) – 13 species as a foodplant

Wild Thyme – 36 species as a foodplant

Wild Carrot – 24 species as a foodplant

Hemp-agrimony (not the introduced Eupatorium from America) – 17 species as a foodplant

Meadowsweet – 26 species as a foodplant

Common Restharrow – 20 species as a foodplant

Common Rock-rose (the native yellow flowered one) – 21 species as a foodplant

Wild Strawberry – 23 as a foodplant

Common Knapweed - Centaurea nigra, not cultivars. being a source of good quality nectar. And as well as supporting butterflies it supports bees and beetles its seeds provide food for many birds.

Devil's-bit Scabious

Nettle – many species lay eggs on these

Ivy - provides a lifeline to moths, butterflies and other pollinators as it flowers late in the year when other nectar sources are unavailable

Buddleia – a very good nectar source. Take advice about how to manage and control this if needed.

Log piles with bark on - for butterflies and moths to hibernate. Some moths breed in dead wood too.