Butterfly seed collection
butterfly collection
- Position: full sun
- Soil: well-drained, preferably poor soil
- Rate of growth: average
- Hardiness: fully hardy
The summer flowering wildflowers that make up this collection predominantly produce blue or mauve flowers. Annual plants, they may produce another crop of flowers in the following year if they are not cut back until they have scattered their seed.
One packet containing 2 grams of seeds will cover approximately 2 square metres.
The collection contains:
Cornflower - Centaurea cyanus
Field Scabious - Knautia arvensis
Greater Knapweed - Centaurea scabiosa
Musk Mallow - Malva moschata
Ox-Eye Daisy - Leucanthemum vulgare
Yarrow - Achillea millefolium
Red Campion - Silene dioica - Garden care: Rake the soil well to form a fine tilth and then sow seeds, scattering them evenly before raking them in and firming down. Wildflowers prefer poor soils so avoid using fertilisers. Keep them well watered initially and remove any weeds if they appear. To encourage butterflies to breed, try to keep a small patch of stinging nettles nearby as these will provide food for the young caterpillars.
- Sow: March - October
- Flowering: July - August