August in the butterfly garden
August butterflies
Peacock butterfly
August is the busiest month in the butterfly garden. Look out for Peacock butterflies on Buddleia bushes. As the month passes so the numbers of Peacock butterflies decline and the numbers of Small Tortoiseshell increase in my garden.
Red Admiral, Painted Lady and Comma butterflies will also be found on my Buddleia bushes.
At the start of August, there will be Gatekeeper butterflies around my Field Scabious and Marjoram. There may be one or two Meadow Brown butterflies too. A Speckled Wood butterfly may well visit, particularly towards the end of the month.
Large White, Small White and Green-veined White butterflies will be in the garden and August is when Brimstone butterflies stop to visit.
The blue butterflies are most likely to be Common Blue or Holly Blue. My garden may well get Brown Argus butterflies which look similar to the Common Blue.
Perhaps a Small Copper or a Small Skipper or Essex Skipper may drop by. I've had other butterflies arrive in my garden during August as well - ones not commonly seen in the garden. There will be plenty of butterflies about in the countryside.
August plants
Verbena bonariensis, Buddleia, Hyssop, French Marigolds and Field Scabious are 5 of the top 6 butterfly-attracting plants in my garden and all will be flowering in August. Sedum spectabile plants may start to flower by the end of the month.
In addition to those top six plants, Lavender, Marjoram, Mint, Heliotrope, Pot Marigold, Virginian Stock, Candytuft and Hebe plants are likely to attract August butterflies.
I've also produced an overview of the butterfly year and there's a list of butterflies flying each month on my calendar page.