Last week I asked where my butterflies had gone. Purely by chance this week I watched a documentary that linked together disappearing butterflies with disappearing wild flower meadows.

There are isolated meadows and gardens where people have purposely grown native wild flowers to encourage and help to increase the insect population but the trouble is apparently that the areas are isolated. The butterflies need a continuous strip that acts as a nectar bar to help these beautiful insects to travel over distance.

In my case I can say that a few years ago an area within yards of my garden ideal for wildlife was destroyed. Two large semi-detached houses had not been lived in for a few years and the garden left unattended. The inevitable happened; the ground was sold off to developers who replaced the two semis with eight houses and most importantly grubbed up all the old shrubs and wild flowers that had taken over the gardens. I still had butterfly visitors but in reduced numbers, the number of sparrow visitors was a lot less and the rabbits and foxes stopped coming through.

It is funny sometimes how coincidences come about. Last weekend we had visitors who took a walk around the garden. One stopped and said, “That is a weed”. My reply was “No that is a wild flower and I like it so it stays”. A few minutes later the second visitor remarked, “What a beautiful flower, where did you get it?” I explained that it was a gift from Mother Nature and she decided that it should be planted in that spot. The view of this visitor was totally different, agreeing with me that a weed is only a plant in the wrong place, why assume that every wildflower is a weed.

The program I mentioned encouraged us to let “wild flowers” grow in a small strip and then there was a chance that all these small strips would join up and provide the sort of motorway with regular cafes that butterflies of yesteryear enjoyed. What a great idea and the good news is that some people are already making their gardens more butterfly friendly. However, not everyone is of the same mind. I know a couple who tend the garden like they do their house, not a thing out of place. In fact they go to the extreme and I have seen them scraping a trowel over the surface of any bare soil to remove absolutely every last leaf or tiny petal that has fallen. Very neat and tidy but not exactly environmentally friendly.

My butterflies may be few this year but the bees are still very busty drinking from my nectar bars and it is so good to see.

I am enjoying the great show of berries in the garden this year while they last. The birds will soon see them off but I know I cannot have everything. I want the birds to visit the garden, I love the berries as they extend the season of colour in the garden but I have to trade one against the other. The trees and bushes want the birds to eat their fruit and distribute the seed; I want to see the birds so I make sure that I enjoy the view of the berries each day knowing that one day the inevitable will happen. After all, my feathered friends provide me with so much joy and amusement the year round and not just for a few weeks.

We now move into September and there is still so much to do and that can be done in the garden. Vegetable gardening in September is still a pleasure as is enjoying the late show of followers in the flower garden.

There is one tree in the garden that is showing autumn colour but I noticed last week that just six miles up the road there was a street lined with Acers and parts of the trees were already in full autumn glory.