companion plants

[Trevor Boyd]

Dear Anne,

Yes, Buddleia of course is ideal in any kind of soil and a great nectar
plant for butterflies - but being of Chinese origin it is not a native.  I
wouldn't call it invasive, but it does seed readily.  I don't think you
could have too many Buddleias about.  Most varieties flower during July and
August, but there is a yellow hybrid (Buddleia x weyeriana) which blooms
from September into November.  It is a cross between B. davidii and B.
globosa.

You mention Valerian but I think you mean Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber)
which comes in red, pink and white.  It is just coming into flower now and
will flower until July.  It loves the lime in old walls but doesn't need or
like rich soil.  Butterflies and moths, especially Humming-bird Hawk-moths
love it.

Brimstone butterflies are not far from you, around Lough Corrib, and are
only limited by the distribution of their food plant (Buckthorn).  They
wander about a good deal, even turning up anywhere in Northern Ireland where
they do not breed.  Alder Buckthorn grows in acid soils, so it should do all
right where you are, and so you could, single handed, allow them to extend
their range to your delightful patch.

Just a few thoughts.  I will not be offended if you don't adopt any of my
suggestions.  Communicating with you is reward enough.

I don't know whether or not to campaign for the Small Blue (Cupido minimus)
in Northern Ireland.  There is only one small, sad colony left, but it
thrives in Donegal and Sligo, all part of the same metapopulation cut off by
the political border.  The authorities here are aware of the problem and are
supposed to be doing some site management to encourage it, so we'll see how
that goes.

Yours,

Trevor Boyd

----- Original Message -----
From: "Anne Kilmer" <viceroy at GATE.NET>
To: <boyd at glade12.fsnet.co.uk>
Cc: "Leps List" <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>; "nature potpourri"
<naturepotpourri at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 1:09 PM
Subject: Re: companion plants


> Trevor Boyd wrote:
>
> > Dear Anne,
> >
> > I think I remember seeing your compost/nettle patch a couple of years
ago
> > when we visited.  A valuable asset indeed for all sorts of wildlife.  I
hear
> > that there is a move in England to allow garden composting only under
> > licence.  Lucky you are in Ireland.  The English can be odd - they have
> > locked up in prison someone who recovered lost golf balls and sold them
on.
> > Can you beat it?
>
>
> As long as I don't compost entire rusting cars, I think I'm all right.
>
>
> >
> > Back to your nettle patch and what to plant in it.  My first suggestion
is
> > Buckthorn, the foodplant of the Brimstone butterfly larvae, either
Purging
> > Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) which is thorny, or Alder Buckthorn
(Frangula
> > alnus) which is not thorny.  Both are native plants and the fruits may
be
> > used for dyeing or as a purgative.
>
>
>
>
> But, Trevor, wouldn't my Brimstones just perish when winter comes,
> leaving no forwarding address? I mean yes, a short life is better than
> no life at all, but why raise a bunch of caterpillars with no future?
> My soil isn't limy at all at all, anyway.
>
>  Other suggestions are the Spindle Tree
> > (Euonymous europaeus), Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus) and Mountain Ash
> > (Sorbus acuparia), all native plants.  By all means plant some
Hollyhocks as
> > well, but they will need support in the Irish winds.
> >
> > Good luck,
> >
> > Trevor Boyd (Butterfly Conservation)
> >
>
> These are all nice ideas (I already have a Mountain Ash, of course;
> that's the Rowan) but I have been seduced by Nigel Venters, he who
> allowed me to name two butterflies long ago.
> Buddleja, he says, and he's quite right. He recommends B. fallowiana
> rather than davidii; more compact. Buddleja is an invasive pest plant,
> but so are most of the plants in my garden, and so am I, and it will
> certainly improve the looks of the nettle bed and cheerfully endure
> being cut back.
> So will the Valerian officinalis he suggests. That is thriving in my
> cracked concrete courtyard, where it comes up in the cracks, in the rock
> wall, wherever it fancies, and disdains my garden bed. So I don't know
> whether it will really be pleased when I offer it that rich soil, but
> I'm heading out with a table knife to ask it. And clippers to collect
> Buddleja cuttings from the turf-block planter where it is fighting  a
> losing battle with the ferns.
>
> I may even thrust in a couple of willow switches, from the clump I see
> down the hill, and a couple across the path. These, I can weave into an
> archway over the path, and let my climbing rose wander over it. There's
> a nice one, right there handy.
>
> Willow is kind to walls, and weaves among them rather than prying them
> out, I think. Or maybe not. As a Viceroy, I like willows, even if I
> don't expect a butterfly to come and enjoy them as I do.
>
> These are happy thoughts, and I thank you.
> Anne Kilmer
> Mayo, Ireland
>
>
>
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