Why moths deserve a place in your evening garden

Most of us think of butterflies when we think of pollinating insects, yet the UK has around 2,500 species of moth against just under 60 butterflies. The great majority of those moths are active after dark, and a good number of them are quietly moving pollen from flower to flower while we are indoors with the curtains drawn. Moths pollinate a huge range of wild plants, from campions and honeysuckles to orchids and ragwort, and they do it at exactly the time of day when many flowers are at their most generous with nectar.

The good news is that a garden does not need to be wild or large to help. A modest patch of night-scented wildflowers, planted close to where you sit on a warm evening, can bring in moths within a season — and give you some of the best free entertainment in horticulture.

How night-scented flowers work

Plants that rely on moths have evolved a recognisable set of tricks, and once you know them you can spot a moth plant at a glance.

• Pale petals. Whites, creams and soft yellows reflect the faint light of dusk, making the flowers visible in near-darkness.
• Scent released at dusk. Many species hold back their fragrance until evening, when cool still air carries it further and moths are on the wing.
• Deep, narrow nectar tubes. These suit the long tongues of hawk-moths and other nocturnal species, and reward them with a good drink.
• Generous nectar. Night-flowering plants tend to produce plenty of it, because their visitors are few and far between.

Some flowers are day-and-night workers, offering pollen to bees and hoverflies by day and to moths after dusk. Planting a mix is the easiest way to keep the whole patch busy.

Reliable night-scented plants for UK gardens

Start with a handful of tried-and-tested plants, then broaden out into wilder species.

• Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis). A tall, tough biennial with luminous yellow flowers that open in a matter of minutes at dusk. It seeds itself freely into gravel and rough grass, and moths adore it.
• Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum). Our native woodbine, and arguably the finest moth plant in the country. The creamy flowers fade to gold and pump out scent after dark. It will scramble up a fence, an old apple tree or a pergola and needs little more than a trim.
• Common jasmine (Jasminum officinale). Not native, but reliable and generous. Grow it against a warm south- or west-facing wall and train it around your seating area.
• Night-scented stock. Easily raised from seed in pots or gaps at the front of a border, and wonderfully fragrant. Sow a pinch every few weeks from spring for a long season.
• Tobacco plant (Nicotiana species). The white, long-tubed varieties are classic moth magnets, and they look superb in containers beside a bench.
• Soapwort, bladder campion and white campion. Wild or near-wild species that sit happily in a meadow strip and bring in smaller moths.
• Purple loosestrife and hemp agrimony. Late-summer stalwarts for damp ground, useful for moths and a great many other insects.

Designing the patch around your seating area

Scent travels best on still, mild air, which is why the placement of these plants matters more than their number. A few practical points:

• Put the strongest scents within two or three metres of a bench or chair, ideally downwind of where you will sit. Wind direction on a summer evening is usually gentle, so a plant to the east of your seat often works well.
• Use a warm wall. A south- or west-facing fence or house wall holds the day's heat and keeps scent rising into the evening air.
• Plant in layers. Honeysuckle and jasmine up high, evening primrose and campions in the middle, night-scented stock and lower campions at the front.
• Use containers too. A pot of tobacco plants beside a doorstep brings moths right to you, even if you only have a balcony or a small yard.
• Keep a little rough grass nearby. Moths rest in long grass and tall stems during the day, so leave a strip unmown rather than neatening every edge.

Feed the caterpillars, not just the adults

Nectar brings in adult moths, but if you want them to stay and breed, the caterpillars need food too. A surprising number of familiar garden and meadow plants do this job well, and most are attractive in their own right.

• Bird's-foot trefoil and clover for the common blue and a suite of small moths.
• Foxgloves, mullein and toadflax for the mullein and other handsome species.
• Nettles in a sunny corner, kept in check by cutting half of them in midsummer.
• Ivy, left to flower in autumn, which is one of the single best late-season nectar sources for moths.
• Native grasses allowed to grow long and set seed.

Leave seedheads standing through winter and resist the urge to tidy every last stem. A small log pile or bundle of hollow stems in a quiet corner gives caterpillars and pupae somewhere to sit out the cold months.

Light, chemicals and a gentler night garden

The two biggest obstacles to moths in a garden are artificial light and pesticides. Security lights left on all night can dazzle and exhaust moths, drawing them away from flowers and making them easy prey. Where you need outdoor lighting, use a motion sensor, a warm bulb and a short timer, and keep the beam low and aimed at paths rather than borders.

Avoid sprays altogether where you can, and let the garden's own predators deal with aphids. If you must intervene, target the plant rather than the whole bed, and never treat open flowers in the evening when moths are feeding.

Give it one season and the rewards are quietly spectacular. Sit out on a still July night with honeysuckle and evening primrose within reach and you may see silver Y moths hovering, a poplar hawk-moth settling on the wall, and small pale shapes drifting between the flowers. That is pollination happening in your own back garden, long after the bees have gone to bed.