Butterfly gardening

Red and yellow admirals find the flower garden, joining monarchs, blues and cabbage whites.

Please spare 15 minutes for this NZ butterfly citizen science project! The Big Butterfly Count is back!

What are the best butterfly flowers for mid-summer in Auckland?

The wild weather has been a curse, but the silver lining has been relief for the butterflies & plants

A return visit to Franklin Farm butterfly house in Waimauku, west Auckland, inspires me.

An update on all the wins and losses recently in the garden: Butterflies, wildlife & plants

These are the flowers that the butterflies are really attracted to in the first month of summer.

Monarchs start visiting the butterfly garden and I start raising admirals alongside them

You don't need to leave central Sydney to see beautiful butterflies. Just head for the royal botanic garden.

A couple of successful wasp trap lures plus loads that did not work. Plus a new wasp to contend with.

November 2025 I have written about copper butterflies previously , and how I was planting muehlenbeckia, their host plant, despite the butterfly garden being over half a kilometre from the coast and perhaps not providing the right environment for copper butterflies. They are most likely to be found within sight of a beach (as are most New Zealanders, to be fair) but the inland sightings on iNaturalist gave me a little hope. I have three types of muehlenbeckia now, with two j

Killing wasps now saves butterflies. Find out the unusual place I found a paper wasp nest.

Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand (MBNZT) certification is given to best practice butterfly and moth habitats. How does Auckland Butterfly Garden stack up so far?

Flowering plants are going into the flower beds and borders, ready for spring. I also take a road trip to see a very special nursery.

All praying mantis eat butterflies, but South African mantis also eat New Zealand mantis. This means war.

Butterflies and moths seen this winter in the garden, including a rare newcomer to New Zealand, which triggered a biosecurity alert.

After a month of work we have new garden beds and cleared borders. Bring on spring!

What plants worked best in the small butterfly garden this summer? What will I continue to grow and what will be abandoned?

Which butterflies visited in summer 2024/25? Which didn't?

Why winter gardening is not recommended. The heavy work to expand the butterfly garden means getting muddy.