Organisations across the world are coming up with new and inventive ways to embrace the extra time we’re all spending at home at the moment.
From online exercise and art classes to virtual museum and garden visits, everyone is finding ways to entertain or educate themselves when we can’t go out.
And here at Plantscape over the past few weeks we’ve been offering a few ideas to help you enjoy being outside without actually leaving the premises.
This week we’re looking at ways we can attract butterflies to our gardens. And if we don’t have gardens ourselves, we can enjoy them in parks or the countryside (as long as we don’t drive there of course!) on our daily prescribed walks.
In fact, the charity Butterfly Conservation, whose president is none other than national treasure Sir David Attenborough, has launched a campaign for residents to join its butterfly poll while they’re in lockdown.
This will enable the organisation to examine how climate change affects the locations and times at which they appear.
Recent sightings include the Clouded Yellow, Pearl Bordered Fritillary and the Small Blue.
The charity says even the smallest garden can attract some of the UK’s 59 types of butterfly, and that with the right plants – such as buddleia, oregano, verbena, wallflower and lavender – many species can be seen in just one patch.
Along with bees, butterflies play a vital role in pollination – and with a 76% decline in numbers over the past four decades, anything we can do to encourage them to our gardens is a positive step.
We’re doing our bit too, with many of the hanging baskets, planters and flower towers we create for towns and cities across the UK containing butterfly friendly plants such as verbena, sanvtalia and geranium.
Meanwhile, our number one bee fan, operations manager Mat Davison is enjoying his own new pollinating acquisition. Fifteen thousand of them are now happily ensconced in his garden and have already produced several pounds of honey.
If you’d like to talk to a member of the Plantscape team ring 0330 5550121 option 5 or email info@plantscapeuk.com.