Phil Sterling is a man on a mission – to convert every motorway embankment, every roadside verge, every unloved patch of grass in our under-resourced urban parks, even every golf course, into a flower-rich haven for wildlife – specifically our threatened populations of moths and butterflies.
Phil fell under the spell of Lepidoptera when he was just five years old. He would go moth-hunting with his father, also an enthusiast. By his teens, he was more expert than his dad, and went on to study zoology at Oxford, progressing to a DPhil on the ecology of the brown-tail moth, and a research fellowship at Balliol College.
It is always moths that have been his first love, perhaps because they are so widely misunderstood. He regrets the common perception of moths as annoying little grey things that eat our clothes. In fact, there are only four species out of 2,500 that could possibly be culprits, and only two of these are jumper-munchers for certain. And far from being drab, moths – especially the day-flying moths, of which there are many – are often exceptionally beautiful. “It’s a bit like Christmas every time you open a moth trap and see how many species there are, all the different colours and patterns: you’re amazed at what you find.”
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Esta historia es de la edición Summer 2023 de Gardens Illustrated.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
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LAZY DAYS
Alice Vincent has had a hectic 2023, but for next year she's come up with a cunning plan to give herself more time and reduce her carbon footprint
SCULPTING THE LANDSCAPE
Charlotte Rowe's elegant design for a country garden in Hampshire fuses modern and traditional styles and captures the Zeitgeist for naturalism with a contemporary edge
Flavour of the seasons
Smallholder and former chef Julius Roberts suggests three easy, warming recipes for a winter feast with seasonal produce
JOINT ENTERPRISE
In southwest Germany, a couple have combined structural grasses and perennials with good seedheads in their garden to great effect, especially when touched by winter frost
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
There is a biodiversity loss crisis, but research into the wildlife found in gardens has made it clear just how important these spaces are as habitat. Discover how much you can learn, and gain, by identifying and documenting what you find beyond your back door
MATTHEW BIGGS
Horticulture's nicest practitioner on his journey from sweeping playgrounds to Gardeners' Question Time via offering gardening advice to insomniacs
YOUNG AT HEART
The garden of the late, great landscape architect Jacques Wirtz, which is more than 50 years old, is now being renewed by his children
PITTOSPORUM
These evergreen shrubs come in a multitude of sizes and shapes with shiny, often variegated or colourful leaves and small scented flowers
Festive flourishes
Entertain in style this Christmas with ideas for natural decorations from Swallows & Damsons
LUKE SENIOR
A former Ruth Borun scholar at Great Dixter, Luke is now one of the garden's full time gardeners