Buddleja davidii is not called the Butterfly bush for nothing.

Running through the town where I live there’s a rail trail – the path of a former railway line that was closed to rail traffic back in the 60s and is now a wonderful walking and cycling trail, lined with trees, shrubs and wildflowers. At one point along the trail, there’s a group of several Buddleja bushes that have now reached small tree height and are currently covered in their gorgeous lilacy purplish flowers. When I walked past today, they were alive with butterflies: I counted at least nine Red admirals, three Commas, two Speckled woods and a selection of Whites.

An added bonus was a Southern hawker dragonfly that was also patrolling the area. Just brilliant!