Bananas for butterflies

In many parts of the country, this year is shaping up to be one of the worst on record for butterflies. That's so sad, given that they bring so much joy to us all in gardens.

One reason for the poor season, the scientists think, is last December's astonishingly mild conditions, in which much of England was over 5 degrees Centigrade warmer than average and even Scotland was a couple of degrees above. This meant that the caterpillars of many butterfly species were active when there was nothing to eat and when they should have been fast asleep.

This comes against the background that many of Britain's butterfly species are struggling anyway, so anything you can do in your garden to help them is a bonus.

While growing the particular foodplants that caterpillars like to eat is the thing that ultimately will help them, this month our headline Giving Nature a Home activity is something much more simple...if a little bananas!

Here's the trick:

• Take a banana that has gone past its best - you know, the last one in the bowl with brown spots that no-one really wants.
• Still in its skin, squidge it between your fingers. Go on, give it a good massage! You'll feel the banana turn to mush within.
• Cut a few small slits through the skin along the top of the banana.
• And then put it out in your garden somewhere warm and sunny and near flowers, ideally where Foxes won't feel like stealing it overnight.

What will happen is that the banana juices will gradually ooze out and - with luck - some of our most colourful butterflies such as the Red Admiral will drop in for a long, blissful drink.

Here's one I made earlier, complete with Red Admiral (one of the few butterflies doing ok this year).

And here's where you can find our full Butterfly Banquet page on the Giving Nature a Home pages - do go and click the blue box half way down the right hand side to let us know that you've given it a go.