Big Butterfly Count 2026 – Hardy's Top Ten Plants for Butterflies
Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count is back for 2026 — and after this summer's heatwaves, there's real excitement that we could be in for a bumper season of butterflies across the UK. It's the perfect moment to think about how your garden can play its part.
At Hardy's, we've long championed planting for wildlife, and butterflies are among the most rewarding visitors any garden can attract — whether you have a sprawling herbaceous border, a compact patio, or just a few well-chosen containers on a balcony. Here are our top ten plants to help you roll out the welcome mat.
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Hardy's Top Ten Plants for Butterflies
1. Agastache 'Black Adder'
If you want to attract butterflies to your garden, Agastache 'Black Adder' — commonly known as Giant Hyssop — should be on your list. From July until late October, its bottlebrush-like spikes of rich purple flowers put on a long-lasting display that pollinators cannot resist, coupled with deliciously aniseed-scented foliage.
A great choice for adding rich colour and verticality to borders or meadow plantings, it also works beautifully in a sunny container near a door, where you will brush the leaves as you pass and release the scent. To thrive it needs a sunny site and free-draining soil. Agastache 'Black Adder' is such an exceptional plant for butterflies that we simply couldn't leave it off this list — even though our current stock is limited to the Nursery Shop. We expect to have more available before the end of the year, so do keep an eye out.
2. Echinacea purpurea
The classic Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea has stout, upright stems which rise to around 100cm, clothed in coarsely textured, lance-shaped mid-green leaves, and topped with large, elegant flowerheads from midsummer well into autumn. The slightly reflexed, light purplish-pink petals sweep back from a prominent golden-brown central cone — a form that bees and butterflies find quite irresistible, offering both nectar and a perfect landing platform.
3. Eryngium 'Big Blue'
This plant really lives up to its name — the intense blue of the large flower heads is stunning, and butterflies find it utterly irresistible. It forms good-sized clumps in reasonably fertile soil in full sun, making it ideal for the middle of a herbaceous or mixed border. Once the flowers have finished, the sculptural seed heads continue to provide a striking focal point well into autumn. The Small Tortoiseshell, as seen in our header photo, is a regular visitor to its vivid, nectar-rich blooms — though the Ringlet pictured below is not a typical visitor.
The Ringlet is a butterfly of cool, damp places — woodland edges, streamsides and lush meadows — and unlike most of our butterflies, it positively thrives in wet summers. It can even be seen flying on drizzly days when other species have long since taken shelter. In good years it can be encountered in its hundreds, but long, hot dry summers like this one can cause numbers to plummet — 1976, one of the hottest summers on record, was a particularly poor year for the Ringlet.
For those of us in towns and cities, the Ringlet is an unlikely garden visitor; our urban environments lack suitable habitats. But if your garden is near woodland or a stream, keep an eye out on overcast summer days — you may be rewarded with a sighting.
The Ringlet has a rather haphazard approach to egg-laying. Rather than carefully attaching her eggs to a specific plant, the female ejects them one at a time, allowing them to fall freely among the grasses that the caterpillars will rely on as a food source. The caterpillars feed nocturnally for around eight weeks before entering diapause — a dormant state similar to hibernation in mammals — resuming feeding in spring and eventually forming a chrysalis at the base of a grass tussock, from which the adult emerges in June or July. At rest with wings closed, the Ringlet is easy to identify — those characteristic ringed eyespots on the underwing give this butterfly its name. Adults favour bramble and thistle as nectar sources, but as the photograph shows, our garden borders can clearly offer a welcome alternative.
4. Eutrochium 'Baby Joe'
The fluffy flowerheads of Eutrochium 'Baby Joe' are a magnet for bees and butterflies in late summer — few plants draw them in quite so reliably at that time of year. This compact variety is shorter than others in the genus and not quite so quick to form clumps, making it ideal for the smaller garden, it combines beautifully with the taller forms to create a pleasing contrast in height and scale. Best in full sun with any moist soil, it is particularly useful in heavier ground where other plants may struggle.
5. Hylotelephium 'Carl'
Hylotelephium 'Carl' is a superb late-season perennial whose broad, flat flowerheads open from dusky pink buds to rich rose-pink in late summer and autumn, held above handsome, glaucous blue-green foliage. As the season winds down and other plants begin to fade, 'Carl' comes into its own — the Red Admiral is among the butterflies drawn to its generous, nectar-rich blooms, making it one of the most valuable plants in the wildlife garden at a time when food sources are becoming scarce. Robust and drought-tolerant once established, it thrives in full sun and well-drained soil, equally at home in a gravel garden, a sunny border, or a large container. The flowerheads age to a warm russet-brown, providing structural interest well into winter.
6. Origanum laevigatum
Commonly known as smooth oregano for the tiny, fragrant evergreen leaves that cloak its woody stems, this ornamental herb deserves to be far better known. From midsummer onwards it produces clusters of tiny pink flowers on dark, willowy stems that attract bees, hoverflies, day-flying moths and butterflies in their droves, before forming attractive seedheads that can last well through winter. Mediterranean in origin, it thrives in poor, well-drained soil in full sun, though it will tolerate partial shade with a modest reduction in flowering. Perfect for a gravel or wildlife garden, it also works beautifully in a sunny container — and easy to grow, a quick trim in spring or autumn will keep its slightly informal habit looking its best.
7. Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm'
'Goldsturm' is a cultivar of Rudbeckia, commonly known as Coneflower, and one of the hardest-working plants in the late-season butterfly garden. Stunning, vibrant yellow daisies with rich dark brown centres appear from late summer through to autumn — exactly when many butterflies are feeding up before winter, and as you can see here, the Gatekeeper is particularly drawn to it. An upright, clump-forming perennial with erect stems and narrow lance-shaped foliage, it is ideal for prairie-style planting and cottage gardens alike. Plant in any reasonable soil in sun or dappled shade, towards the back of the border, and divide large clumps after flowering in autumn to maintain vigour.
The name says it all — picture a sun-drenched country lane, a weathered gate flanked by brambles and long grasses, hedgerows rising on either side. This is the Gatekeeper's world, and its other common name, the Hedge Brown, conjures it just as well. Both names speak to the warm, sheltered habitats this butterfly favours: sunny lanes, hedgerows, woodland rides and scrubby field margins where long grass and nectar plants grow in close company.
Unlike many butterflies that rest with wings closed, the Gatekeeper characteristically basks with its wings held open — making it one of the easier species to observe and identify when it settles.
In gardens, the Gatekeeper is most often seen in July and August, nectaring on a range of flowers — including, as you can see here, Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'. Common throughout England and Wales, its range reaches as far north as Cumbria and Yorkshire.
Eggs are laid in late summer on a variety of fine grasses. From hatching, the caterpillars feed during daylight hours through autumn, before entering diapause. When they emerge in spring they switch to feeding nocturnally, becoming fully grown by early summer before pupating to produce the next generation of adults.
8. Scabiosa 'Kudo Pink'
Large, soft pink blooms with an inner dome of pin-like flowers encircled by flouncy ruffled petals, float on slender stems above clumping, deeply cut grey-green leaves. This Japanese introduction has swiftly gained popularity for its large flowers that are borne prolifically throughout the summer and autumn. It can be grown towards the front of a border or, if you have limited space, it is perfect for containers — seen here with a Peacock Butterfly.
One of our most familiar butterflies, the Peacock is a common and welcome visitor to British gardens — its wings are marked with vivid eyespots that mirror the iridescent markings on a peacock's tail feathers. On warm summer days it nectars enthusiastically on buddleia, Verbena bonariensis, Hylotelephium and scabious.
The Peacock is one of the first butterflies we see each year, emerging from their winter dormant state as early as February or March. With a lifespan of up to eleven months — one of the longest of any British butterfly. From September they tuck themselves away in garden sheds, outbuildings, hollow trees and woodpiles — you may well find one tucked behind a flowerpot or resting on a rafter over the winter months. They emerge in spring to mate before laying eggs in May or June.
Eggs are laid in large clusters on the undersides of nettle leaves — a single female can lay up to 500 over around two hours. The caterpillars hatch roughly two weeks later: jet black, covered in fine spines and tiny white spots, often likened to a starry night sky. They feed voraciously near the nettle tops in large, conspicuous groups protected by a communal silken web. When fully grown, the caterpillars leave the nettle patch and go their separate ways, each forming a chrysalis suspended from a silken thread. The adult butterfly emerges after around two weeks and spends the rest of summer feeding up — building the reserves it will need to survive the long winter ahead.
When threatened by birds, the Peacock flashes its wings open to reveal those startling eyespots, and simultaneously produces an audible hiss by rubbing the veins of its forewings and hindwings together — a double bluff that startles most predators into retreat.
9. Symphyotrichum 'Little Carlow'
Clouds of small, vivid violet-blue daisies with bright yellow centres are carried on stout stems with mid-green, narrow foliage. 'Little Carlow' is widely admired not only for the sheer quantity of flowers it produces, but also for the striking intensity of those blue flowerheads — a colour that bees and butterflies find quite irresistible as the season turns. The blooms really sing out of an autumn border, combining beautifully with yellows such as Rudbeckia, echoing the warm tones of their own centres. For a more naturalistic effect, plant in gentle drifts with grasses and other daisies such as Echinacea and Helenium for a prairie-style planting that pollinators will love. After flowering, stems can be cut back or left until spring for additional winter interest. This easy-to-grow perennial thrives in fairly fertile, moisture-retentive soil in part shade, but will tolerate full sun with a little less moisture — avoid very free-draining conditions.
10. Verbena bonariensis
Commonly known as Argentinian Vervain, Verbena bonariensis is one of the most reliably pollinator-friendly plants you can grow. Its tall, columnar stems branch into clusters of tiny violet flowers throughout summer, creating an airy, see-through effect that works beautifully in borders and gravel gardens alike. Native to South America, it self-seeds freely, ensuring a reliable presence year after year with very little effort on your part.
Butterflies and bees are drawn to it — and on warm summer days at the nursery we regularly spot the extraordinary Hummingbird Hawk-moth hovering at the blooms. Verbena bonariensis is hardy through most of the UK, though plants in pots and those in colder gardens may experience some stem dieback in a harsh winter. Give it a position in full sun and well-drained soil and it will reward you season after season.
Strictly speaking not a butterfly at all, the Hummingbird Hawk-moth is nonetheless one of the most thrilling wildlife encounters a garden can offer — and well worth looking out for during your Big Butterfly Count. This day-flying moth is a migrant from southern Europe, arriving in Britain from late spring onwards, with numbers varying considerably from year to year. On warm, sunny days it can be seen hovering at speed in front of flowers, its wings beating so fast they are almost invisible, as it probes for nectar with its long proboscis — the resemblance to a tiny hummingbird is quite remarkable. Verbena bonariensis is a particular favourite, and we see them regularly at the nursery on warm summer afternoons. If you spot one during your count, do record it — Butterfly Conservation welcomes records of day-flying moths alongside butterflies.
Creating a Butterfly-Friendly Garden
A few simple choices can make a real difference to the butterflies visiting your garden, whatever its size.
Butterflies are cold-blooded and need warmth to fly, so position nectar plants in sunny, sheltered spots where they can bask as well as feed. Grouping the same plants together in blocks is far more effective than dotting them singly around the garden — a drift of Verbena bonariensis or a generous clump of Hylotelephium will draw butterflies in from a distance.
Think about the whole season too. Spring flowers are vital for butterflies emerging from their winter dormant state, while late-season plants such as Symphyotrichum and Rudbeckia help them build up reserves before winter. Deadheading regularly will help prolong flowering and keep plants looking their best.
A log pile in the border is one of the best additions to a wildlife garden, providing shelter for butterflies in their winter dormant state, beetles, solitary bees, hedgehogs and amphibians. Always use garden-grown or sustainably sourced wood — never take from the wild.
If space allows, consider leaving an area of rough, long grass to grow undisturbed — it provides vital habitat for a surprising number of butterfly species, including the Ringlet and Gatekeeper, whose caterpillars depend on long grass for feeding and shelter. A patch of nettles is equally valuable; the Peacock, Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell all depend on them for egg-laying. And if you have fruit trees, leave a few windfall apples on the ground in autumn — Red Admirals and Peacocks are particularly drawn to fermenting fruit as the season turns, a reliable way to attract them when nectar sources are dwindling.
Don't overlook the moths either. Many day-flying species are just as rewarding to watch as butterflies, and several are drawn to the same plants — Verbascum, Digitalis, Symphytum and Origanum are all worth growing with moths in mind. One word of warning: if you grow Verbascum, keep an eye out for the striking caterpillars of the Mullein Moth — yellow and black spotted, they can strip a plant surprisingly quickly, though many gardeners find them too handsome to begrudge. Leaving areas of leaf litter and undisturbed soil also makes a real difference, providing safe overwintering sites for caterpillars and pupae.
Avoid insecticides and pesticides entirely — they are harmful not only to butterflies but to the whole community of beneficial insects your garden depends on. And if you're buying compost, choose a peat-free option; peat bogs are precious habitats for wildlife, including some of our rarest butterfly species — something very close to our hearts at Hardy's.
How to Take Part in the Big Butterfly Count
The Big Butterfly Count runs from Friday 17 July to Sunday 9 August 2026. All you need is 15 minutes on a sunny day to count the butterflies you spot in your garden or local green space. Every record helps Butterfly Conservation build a picture of how UK butterfly populations are faring. Visit the Butterfly Conservation website to download the identification chart and submit your count — seen here, a Red Admiral on Hylotelephium 'Iceberg'.
Few of our garden butterflies have travelled as far as the Red Admiral — a striking migrant that arrives each year from North Africa and southern Europe, having already mated before departure. They typically begin arriving in May, spreading northwards through June and July, with a steady trickle of fresh arrivals continuing well into August.
As summer fades, many begin to drift southwards again — and on warm autumn days, the south coast can see remarkable numbers gathering before crossing the Channel. In recent years, however, increasing numbers are choosing to overwinter here rather than continuing the journey south. Whether this reflects milder winters due to climate change, a gradual shift in behaviour among the offspring of individuals that stayed and bred here, or a combination of both, it is a trend that butterfly recorders are watching with great interest.
In summer and into autumn, they are enthusiastic feeders, particularly drawn to buddleia, Hylotelephium and Symphyotrichum — all well worth growing if you want to attract them from late summer onwards. Later in the season they switch to rotting windfall apples and ivy flowers as they build their reserves ahead of the southward migration.
Eggs are laid singly on nettle leaves — occasionally on Pellitory-of-the-wall — and hatch within about a week. The caterpillar is bristly and dark, with a pale yellow stripe running down each side, and passes through five moults over three to four weeks as it grows. Throughout this time it remains a secretive creature, using silk to bind nettle leaves together into a series of progressively larger protective tents — one for each stage of its development. By the time it is fully grown it draws several leaves together to form a final chamber, inside which it pupates — hanging from the underside of a nettle leaf, the chrysalis is dull brown and leaf-like, with a ridge of small peaks along its underside, making it remarkably well camouflaged. Look out for these shelters in the garden between August and October — a neat bundle of nettle leaves bound with silk is a sure sign that a Red Admiral caterpillar or chrysalis is tucked inside.
Whether you spot a Peacock nectaring on your Echinacea or a Small Tortoiseshell resting on a warm stone, every sighting matters. Happy counting — and happy planting. 🦋
Frequently Asked Questions
What do butterflies eat?
Adult butterflies feed entirely on liquids, using a long, coiled tongue called a proboscis to sip nectar from flowers. This is why planting good nectar sources is so important — without them, butterflies simply cannot feed. Later in the season, some species such as the Red Admiral and Peacock will also seek out fermenting windfall fruit, which is why leaving a few fallen apples on the ground in autumn can be so rewarding.
How long do butterflies live?
When people ask this, they usually mean the adult butterfly — and the answer is often surprisingly short. Most species live for only a few weeks as adults, though the full life cycle from egg to adult can span many months. Species that enter a winter dormant state as adults can live considerably longer — the Peacock, for example, can survive for up to eleven months, tucking itself away in a shed or hollow tree from September and emerging again in early spring.
How do butterflies and moths differ?
As a general rule, butterflies fly by day, have slender clubbed antennae, and tend to hold their wings upright when at rest. Moths are mostly nocturnal, with feathery or tapering antennae, and typically rest with wings flat. There are exceptions though — the Hummingbird Hawk-moth featured in this article is a day-flier and one of the most spectacular insects you can encounter in a British garden.
What is the butterfly life cycle?
All butterflies go through four stages: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and adult. The details vary fascinatingly between species — the Red Admiral caterpillar lives a secretive solitary life inside a tent of silk-bound nettle leaves, while the Peacock caterpillar feeds in large conspicuous groups beneath a communal silken web on the same plant.
When is the best time of day to see butterflies?
Butterflies are most active on warm, sunny days when temperatures are high enough for them to fly — they need warmth to get going, and on overcast days will generally only take to the wing if it's around 20°C or above. A still day is ideal too; butterflies are not fond of wind and will tend to stay sheltered when it picks up. On a perfect summer morning, a sunny, sheltered border can be alive with activity by mid-morning and remain so well into the afternoon.
Which plants are best for attracting butterflies to a UK garden?
Some of the most reliable choices include Verbena bonariensis, Hylotelephium, Symphyotrichum, Echinacea and Agastache — all featured in our top ten above. No list would be complete without mentioning buddleia too — it remains the go-to shrub for butterflies and will draw them in from a considerable distance on a warm summer day. Aim for a mix of plants that flower from spring through to late autumn to support butterflies throughout the season.
What should I plant to attract butterflies in autumn?
Late-season plants are particularly valuable as nectar sources become scarce. Hylotelephium, Symphyotrichum 'Little Carlow' and Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' are all excellent choices — and if you have fruit trees, leaving a few windfall apples on the ground will attract Red Admirals and Peacocks well into October.
When is the Big Butterfly Count 2026?
The Big Butterfly Count 2026 runs from Friday 17 July to Sunday 9 August. All you need is 15 minutes on a sunny day to count the butterflies in your garden or local green space and submit your results to Butterfly Conservation.
How can I make my garden more wildlife-friendly for butterflies and moths?
A few simple steps make a big difference: grow nectar-rich plants in sunny, sheltered spots; leave an area of rough grass and a patch of nettles undisturbed; add a log pile for overwintering shelter; leave leaf litter and undisturbed soil for caterpillars to pupate safely; and avoid insecticides entirely. Every garden, however small, can play a part.