Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Butterfly Plant with Butterflies


Great Spangled and Spicebush Swallowtail Butterflies

Every year, I enjoy watching the butterflies on the orange butterfly plant (or weed). It's a milkweed, about 2 feet tall. I usually see my first monarch on it in June or July.




The Spicebush Butterfly was the only one while I counted as many as 10 Great Spangled Butterflies at one time on the butterfly plants.


My colony of honey bees dispatched only one bee to work the milkweed. I saw two other types of wild bees--one copper-colored and the other green.

The purple cone flower is native and another favorite of butterflies. I decided to plant it only after seeing honey bees on it at Lowe's.

I have always planted flowers but now I try to plant more native species or those that bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds like.

Note: I started this post last night while doing a presentation on nature journals and blogs at Mountain Lake Hotel last evening. On my way there, I saw a baby turkey in the road--it was able to fly to its mother a few feet away. Wished I had gotten a photo!

11 comments:

  1. How do you do it? Gorgeous photo!

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  2. Beautiful pic! I love the bright yellow flower!

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  3. Webb--thanks. The flower and butterflies were very cooperative!

    Little Messy Missy--thanks for visiting.

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  4. Great shots of lovely butterflies! I have not seen many this year yet.

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  5. I Enjoy you photos. I am a follower.
    Please stop by and visit.

    Dove

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  6. We get lots of great spanglededs when my coneflowers come into bloom. We don't have the spicebush here. Esrlied this week I encountered msny White Admirals while out driving. We have many Swallowtails at this time. Butterflies are so beautiful. I love them in our gardens.
    Ann

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  7. Your butterflies are wondrously gorgeous!

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  8. Beautiful photos! I love that purple flower--I hope it brings lots of butterflies to your garden!

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  9. Really does not get better than these..gorgeous

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  10. Here How have I missed this blog? I went on the NABA Butterfly Count in Giles County many years ago. Do you know Clyde and Bruce some of my naturalist buddies from VA? Sorry to tell you straight though, that Spicebush Swallowtail is actually a dark form female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Enjoyed my first visit here.

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