Myra was just commenting the other day that she had not seen as many butterflies in the garden as usual this summer. Well today the Buddlejas are full of Red Admirals and Peacocks.The red admiral is a familiar butterfly, and is easy to recognize with its striking pattern. The black forewings feature prominent red bars and white spots. The undersides of the rear wings are lightly patterned with brown and black. This common migratory species is found througout the UK. If our winter is not too severe some of the adults will hibernate and survive and are later joined by butterflies that have migrated from North Africa and southern Europe After mid-August red admirals in Britain begin to move southwards and the majority spend the winter in warmer climes. Perhaps the shortage of butterflies here in Aberdeen in the early summer was due to the fact that we had such a severe and long winter. If you want to atract butterflies to your garden in late summer, plant even just one Buddleja, and you will be surprised. One of the most striking of these shrubs is (Black Knight)
Red Admiral
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