Earlier this evening.....
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Nice photo!
There's the other girl.
What's your best butterfly flowers?
They seem to like my butterfly bush, butterfly weed, phlox, verbena bonariensis, coreopsis, and coneflowers!! How 'bout you??
More from today....
Another shot...
One more....
We have swallowtails here but probably a different branch of the family, yellow and black. about 2 1/2 to 3 inches across with the wings spread out and I love them, they are just so pretty fluttering along. My kids used to call them flutterbys. Another plant they like is Sweet William, but I think just about any flower where they can sit down and not have their wings bump something would make any butterfly happy.
MaryE,
I have seen pictures of the Western Tiger Swallowtail....they are very beautiful!!
yvana :)
Yvana, I have the first four plants and they are big favorites. My Lantana and the Zinnias also draws quite a crowd.
This is the first year I'm growing Verbena bonariensis. It sure attracts all the little guys, like skippers, buckeyes, hairstreaks etc. I'm growing a lot more of it next year.
Kris, I've only got 1 plant this year, but butterflies love mexican sunflowers too.
How could I have forgotten the lantana!! It definitely draws lots of attention from late spring until fall!! Also...one more is Agastache, I have "Blue Fortune". This is also my first year growing verbena bonariensis (I have to look up that word every time for correct spelling. Ha)
It is doing real well. I broke a piece off by accident and stuck it in the ground and it is blooming now!! Do you have Phlox paniculata "Robert Poore"? It seems to draw more butterflies than some other phlox.
I only have one Phlox, it was marked "Old Fashioned Phlox" when I bought it last year. The Palamedes Swallowtail is crazy about it, and I think that is the only butterfly that visits it.
The Palamedes is my most common butterfly. Everyday there are at least 30 of them in my garden.
I have never had much lock with the Mexican Sunflower. When it rains buckets like it often does here, it goes down hills fast.
I forgot to plant Agastache this year, last year it seems like I had mainly bees on it.
Is this a Palamedes?
That is a female Spicebush Swallowtail, the male has the same spots around the edge of the wings but his "eyeshadow" is bluer.
The Palamedes is almost black with yellow markings when it first emerges, fading to brown with creamy markings. The one in this photo has been around for a few days. Do you have them?
I don't think so!! I will keep an eye out for them. Are they very large? That Spicebush Swallowtail was huge!
I'll bet your garden is awesome with 30 of those Palamedes fluttering about!! Do you have a big garden? Flowers, only or vegetables, too?
The Palamedes can get almost as big as a Tiger. They live near swamps or moist woods. I have woods on three sides with the right host trees so that's how I have so many.
My garden is not that big, but it is growing. I think I only have about one acre cleared, the rest is all woods.
I used to grow weggies, but I always end up ripping them out to make room for flowers, so I quit trying.
What's your garden like?
My garden is not that big...We live on a 1/2 acre suburban lot. We have a creek and woods across the street. When we moved here two years ago, I was really inspired by the enclosed patio courtyard in the back. The previous owners had laid out flower beds and retaining walls, but they were filled with weeds! I have been steadily planting all types of perennials and bulbs, and like to try to attract butterflies and hummingbirds too! Now I am a flower addict! They are like eye-candy to me!! Stimulating and soothing!
yvana :)
You got some good shots yvana! I am hoping to get some of the Pipevine swallowtails and Zebra swallowtails. I think the swallowtails are my favorite group of b'flies. I love the irridescent blue that most of them have, and the little tails.
Thanks, Butterflygardnr,
I love Swallowtails too!! I wish we had Zebras here, (we don't) but they do have some in a Butterfly House at a nursery nearby. I love the way the Zebras fly, very flittery and graceful! I also really like Red Spotted Purples...they have lots of beautiful iridescent blue!
yvana :)