In my narrow town garden in Stourbridge I used to consider myself honoured if I had a single visit each spring from an orange-tip butterfly but, lately, all that has changed. Orange-tips are famous wanderers, the males in particular flying tirelessly along lanes, woodland rides and through gardens in search of a mate.
The best place for them to find one is near a patch of lady’s smock or garlic mustard, the foodplant of the orange-tip caterpillar. A few years ago, I introduced both plants to a small area of unmown grass near the top of the garden. The lady’s smock spread through the lawn and now its pale lilac flowers are visited in spring by bee-flies, hoverflies and solitary bees as well as orange-tips that seem to materialise out of nowhere. The garlic mustard likes the borders and base of shrubs.