Allium millenium is a much later flowering allium than most, with blooms in July and August. It’s only 40 cms high, but it’s a pretty little thing. And this year, it seems to have been the prime choice on the pollinating menu for honey bees, and two types of butterflies, the Gatekeeper and the Meadow Brown. On a daily basis, I see 20 or so in the garden at one once, and most of them can be found on or around this Allium.
On the left at the back is the Gatekeeper butterfly, and on the right at the front is a Meadow Brown.
Gatekeeper butterfly, Pyronia tithonus.
Meadow Brown, Maniola jurtina.
A Gatekeeper (right) and Meadow Brown (left), supping on the same flower.
And they don’t mind sharing with the honey bees.
I do love this allium, and given it’s so beloved by pollinators, I’m going to let my patch bulk up so that I can then divide and add more to other parts of the garden in future years. After all, I don’t want to disappoint the other bees and butterflies that hear about the feast to be found in my garden.
I used the Butterfly Conservation website to find the butterfly id’s.
We’ve been happy to see more butterflies this year on our buddleias
I am making a note of this for when I do my bulb shopping in a month or so – thank you!