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

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

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.

Updating the actions on the project plan for the year ahead. The ultimate garden to-do list.

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?

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

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

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.

Yellow admiral butterflies are eclosing daily, despite the winter weather.

Our not quite Insta-worthy dead hedge and definitely not butterfly worthy nettle bed is constructed

There are yellow admiral caterpillars everywhere, eating me out of house and home.

A guide how NOT to raise red admiral butterflies. Various disasters have hit my red admiral caterpillars but a few beautiful ones have made it to become butterflies.