Bugs & Butterflies

We’re now only a month or so away from our appearance at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival (eek) can you tell that I’m excited? Gardening is such a passion of mine and the festival is set to be such a showcase of gorgeous gardens and flower displays and it’s going to be really special to be exhibiting there this year.

As you may be aware by now, we have lots of lovely RHS approved charity Hug Rug designs within our collection. Each and every one of them is inspired by the true beauty of nature and all the wonderful things that gardens and gardening have to offer.

One of my favourite Hug Rugs in our RHS range has to be the Bugs and Butterflies design, it’s so colourful and I just love seeing all those little (and not so little) creatures flourishing in our garden throughout the summer months.

So with this design in mind, I thought I’d take a look at my favourite three insects that are featured on the Hug Rug and share exactly why I love them so much!

 

Butterflies

This one’s an easy one, they’re just so graceful and beautiful aren’t they? Not only that, but there are so many species with different colours and patterns, it never fails to wow or amaze me when I see one that I’ve not seen before! In fact, it’s estimated that there are between 15,000 and 20,000 different species of butterfly in the world! Amazing!

It’s actually Butterfly Education & Awareness Day (BEAD) on June 3rd so what better time to increase your butterfly knowledge and appreciation? I think my favourite fact when it comes to butterflies would have to be the fact that their wings are actually transparent and made up of tiny scales that reflect light, rather than their wings are actually coloured. Nature is incredible isn’t it?

If you’d like to attract more butterflies to your garden then creating a butterfly feeder with a sugary water drink in it or planting nectar rich flowers such as bluebells, lavender or primrose is sure to get them fluttering around your garden in no time.

 

 

Ladybirds

Another colourful and gorgeous resident in many of our gardens across the UK, ladybirds (or bugs) are gracefully named and come in lots of different colours and patterns (Over 5,000 across the world!). Here in the UK though, the most common species that you’ll see rummaging and flying around your garden is the red (sometimes orange) seven spot ladybird. Especially if your garden has plenty of pollen rich flowers and a bug hotel or two.

Ladybirds are one of a gardeners best friends due to their appetite for eating aphids and lots of them too! Over the course of their life, one ladybird can gobble up more than 5,000 of the tiny green plant eating pests! So thank you ladybirds for helping to keep my garden flourishing and strong!

 

 

Dragonflies

There’s something magical and majestic about the way a dragonfly moves, don’t you think? I often think they’re like nature’s helicopter, as they have so much control when it comes to flying. This control makes it really easy for them to catch their prey, such as annoying mosquitos, with a single dragonfly able to eat anywhere from 30 to over a hundred mosquitos a day! So it’s a good idea to do what you can to attract them to your garden because everyone hates itchy bites in the Summer! Planting native wildflowers and not mowing your lawn as much will help to encourage them to visit.

Apart from being fascinating to watch, there’s plenty of other aspects that make them really interesting too. For example, I bet you didn’t know that nearly their whole head is an eye! Which as you can imagine, provides them with incredible vision. Also they were one of the first winged species to evolve and scientists have actually found fossils of dragonflies with wingspans of up to two feet! As much as I love them, I’m not so sure I’d be as enamoured with them if they were still that big!

 

I’m sure you’ll agree that these three insects are some of the prettiest that we see in our gardens across the UK during the Summer. That’s one of the main reasons why they were chosen to feature on our Bugs and Butterflies Hug Rug design. Allowing us to see these beautiful insects all year round and not just during the Summer months.

But if you’re wanting to attract more of these beautiful creatures to your garden this summer, why not plant some more wildflowers and nectar rich flowers or even invest in or build a bug hotel or two, they’ll thank you for it!

Busy Lizzie x