The pulling power of Senetti


May 29th? It is more like March 29th... wet, cold and windy here in northern Surrey. Not the sort of weather for butterflies. Speaking of which, this morning I purchased two Senetti plants from a local garden centre - they are pericallis hybrids that are early flowerers and seem to be a recent addition to the horticultural world. I hadn't come across it until I stayed at Dungeness Bird Observatory earlier in the month and saw the fine specimen that warden Dave Walker had obtained. It wasn't so much the vibrant flower colour that caught my attention as much as the pulling power that the flowers had on butterflies - it was positively crawling with them. Dave took the picture below that clearly illustrates the point:


There are over 40 Small Coppers here! I just hope that Dave has continued to dead-head the plant and that new blooms are still coming forth. I'm back down at DBO next month and quite fancy a Swallowtail or Camberwell Beauty alighting upon it...

Comments

Simon Douglas Thompson said…
Wow! Look at them all! Most persude the parents to get one of these for their garden, which doesn't do well enough on the butterfly front.
29 May 2015 at 13:46
Unknown said…
Blimey. I thought about these earlier in the year and will try to seek some out before it is too late!

Could be handy placing one next to the moth trap.
29 May 2015 at 20:15
Steve Gale said…
I don't know how long this plant keeps on flowering for, but I would give it a go!
31 May 2015 at 10:24
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