Some thoughts for the butterflies and flowers:
"Planting a pollinator-friendly lawn supports biodiversity, but it also helps the climate too. Healthy ecosystems are more resilient to climate change, and greening urban areas cools them by reducing the local heat island effect.
If you have a grass lawn, consider a “Slow Mow Summer.” A recent study that found that even just letting your grass grow longer attracts anywhere between 18 to 93 percent more butterflies to your yard. “To make an impact on the biodiversity crisis we need to be creating places where butterflies and other wildlife can breed. [Letting grass grow] is simple, doesn’t cost anything and saves you time and effort,” said Dr Richard Fox, the head of science at Butterfly Conservation and a co-author of the study. It doesn’t even have to be the whole lawn – a patch will help!
What if you only have a balcony? Priyanka Singh lives on the 13th floor of a high-rise apartment building in Mumbai. There’s not a lot of nature around: or so you’d think, until she planted a butterfly garden on her balcony. As this article describes, she cultivates lantana, curry leaves, Jamaican spike, ixora, meswak, and patharchatta, all on her balcony. These provide food for butterflies, places to lay eggs, and habitat for caterpillars to grow.
Priyanka has raised around 55 different species of butterflies from caterpillars, and estimates that more than 5,000 butterflies have been nurtured by her balcony garden over the past ten years, earning her the title “Butterfly Mom.” You can follow Priyanka on Instagram here or visit her on Facebook here - she often shares tips that can help you in your own quest to bring butterflies to your garden.
These are all climate and biodiversity solutions people can see, right in front of them, in the places where they live. So if anyone asks you what’s going on with your lawn or your balcony, don’t miss the chance to start a conversation about what a difference these steps can make!"
from Katharine Hayhoe's newsletter TalkingClimateNewsletter May 6,2024
I'm interested in what Priyanka Singh is doing! Going to look for pollinator friendly flowers for my porch this year!
...the more butterflies, the better.
ReplyDeleteAnd I also want many many healthy bees out there too!
DeleteMore butterflies, I would love that. My hubby is slowing down and has hired a grass cutting company. Our grass is growing fast now, we are still waiting for the company to come and cut. Take care, have a great day!
ReplyDeleteGood luck on getting that grass cut, as I'm sure it will be a difficult job if it's growing so much...glad your husband isn't tackling that!
DeleteThat is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteI see so few bees this year, not to mention fewer butterflies so far!
DeleteUseful tips!
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas! Last summer I saw but one butterfly!
ReplyDeleteI just got seeds for bee-flowers, though...
Interesting. I have flowers growing in the front yard and the backyard, and many of them are wildflowers. I’ve seen a few butterflies so far and I hope to see more as the weather stabilizes. It’s been cold, hot, rainy, windy cold… Very changeable.
ReplyDelete