Butterfly Garden
The whole Members Garden has been designed with Butterflies in mind, and this section of the garden has been planted with many shrubs and plants that are attractive to butterflies and bees. Keep a close watch out for butterfly species of Blues, Yellows, Whites, Swallowtails, and Browns, plus the Skippers and Hong Kong’s largest and rare species, the ‘Golden Birdwing’. Although many plants and shrubs provide nectar feeding for butterflies, many are also host plants so keep a watch for butterflies mating, laying their eggs and even caterpillars emerging and growing on the plant stems. If you find a shiny hard chrysalis, this will be where a new generation of butterfly will emerge soon, so keep going back and you may get lucky to see them emerge, extend and dry their wings ready for flight.
One special plant to look for is the Milkweed, as you can find all four lifecycle stages of the Common Tiger Butterfly on the leaves. Did you know that the leaves are toxic to birds so the caterpillars eat them for protection, and when they pupate and turn into a beautiful butterfly that toxin stays in the wings and body to offer complete protection from the birds. And in return, the butterflies feed on the milkweed and cross-pollinate the plants so that they can produce seed pods that help the plant to reproduce. This special relationship is called ‘symbiosis’ and occurs all throughout nature.
Other special butterfly attracting plants include the Blackberry Lily, Chinese Wormwood, Yellow Wild Iris, Chinese Privet, Chinese Fountain grass and more. With the constant colourful displays throughout the year other pollinators such as our beloved Asian Honey Bees, Blue-banded Bees and the larger Black Carpenter Bees are attracted to these flowing plants. The grasses will attract different species of ladybugs too as they munch on the aphids.
We do not use pesticides or herbicides in the Members Garden, as they are harmful to nature and we wish to encourage a harmonious balanced biodiversity. Therefore you may find many species of bugs, aphids and insects all over the flowering plants and shrubs. Look closely and you can easily find many species of Ladybugs, enjoying their favourite food, the ‘aphids’!
Click here to view the Fauna & Flora spotting guide