Viceroy Butterfly

This little cutie was fluttering around the garden the other day.  Most people think these are monarchs but the black band across the back wings is an easy way to tell the difference.  I think people are used to monarchs as a name because they get so much of the news about butterflies and these guys really do look so similar.

Other visitors to the garden are toads.  We've had multiple toads at a time hopping around looking for bugs.  I keep the garden well watered and thus attract insects like mad.  The spiders know this too and often I have to knock down a web just so I can get to all of the plants.  Sorry, not sorry?

Maybe I'll get some toad pics up soon. 

Butterfly on Cherry Blossoms

Apparently around the same time I was taking pictures in Las Vegas, our friend, Monica, was taking pictures just south of Dallas at Cedar Ridge Preserve.

Where I only got a picture of a plum tree she got a nice picture of a western tiger swallowtail. Granted, I didn't see any butterflies at all in Vegas.  I'm glad to see the butterflies are starting to show up around here already though.  It should be a nice spring soon.

Butterflies Calling In Spring

Butterflies are one of those things everyone expects to see when spring comes around.  There's nothing like a warm spring day with a gentile breeze and a field of butterflies fluttering around.  I tried when I was very little to catch some in a little net.  I only caught a few but being so little I didn't realize how fragile they were.  I don't remember what I did exactly but I'm sure I should have been more careful.
We've been seeing a lot of butterflies recently, especially black swallowtails since we've purposefully put out plants they like to eat. Among these are dill, fennel, rue, and parsley.  I'm sure there are others but these are the most commonly known ones.
We've also seen other butterflies though, our dianthus and onion flowers seem to attract large yellow and white butterflies and a small grey one, respectively.  Who knows what other types may flutter by as more flowers open like our cone flower and the milkweed out back.

Black Swallowtail Butterflies Are Back

We went through one round of the pesky caterpillars eating the dill but it doesn't seem like the dill and cucumbers will be ready at the same time anyway so we're letting the dill go mostly to the caterpillars only keeping them off of the front two.  It's a simple matter to just pick the piece they're currently eating and putting it on one of the back plants.
Maybe this time we will be able to get them before they get too big and put them in a tank to change into butterflies. The netting is still available from last time we thought about it.  I still don't remember seeing the butterflies in the first place but I'm pretty sure that's what they are.

Unusual Visitor - Orange-Barred Sulphur Butterfly

It took a little searching to figure out what this little girl was. I say girl because the males are more orange, thus the name.
I don't know why she came up this far north. Usually they stay in the south, only occasionally visiting south Texas. More often you can find them in Brazil or possibly south Florida. I guess she was atracted by the turk's cap she was feeding on.
Unfortunately I didn't have the pleasure of taking this picture but my wife did along with several other pictures of the yard and gardens.

Butterfly Attractions

No, it's not butterflies on parade. Rather it's things that attract butterflies.
Several years ago we helped out with the Butterflies in the Garden exhibit at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. The butterflies really lilked the shirts they had for us. They were mostly yellow with a little black writing on them. It was just after we had taken a photography class from UTA and had some slide film left. We don't get to look at those very often.

We went back out to the botanic gardens recently and took a few pictures. The butterflies were out in full force.

This one didn't seem to be doing very well since he had a deformed wing. He was flopping or fluttering, depending on how you see it, in among the salvia. I wouldn't have seen him except that I was sitting on the ground next to the bush. He had plenty of flowers within reach and may still have lived however long he was supposed to for reproducing.

This on however had fully formed and colorful wings. He was in mid-flap so it isn't as vibrant as it could be but it was one of the better pictures.

Lantana was blooming everywhere.

Watermelon Patch?

Ok, maybe not a patch, but it surely is taking over a little. It's pulled down it's second sunflower plant. I can't bear to mess with it too much though since I really want some watermelons this year.
I have to go put planks and straw under them today so they don't get eaten up by slugs or rolly pollys, which devoured my cucumbers last year.



Along with the watermelons there are all of the flowers that they produce. This little visitor seemed to realize this and waited around for a bite to eat.

Garden Life

Sounds like a magazine... It might be a magazine but that's not what I had in mind.

I don't remember what these flowering plants are called but who cares right now. the important part is that these little butterflies love it! There were four of them and they seemed more interested in the plant than in the fact that I was right in the midst of them. I was able to stand there watching them for a good five minutes before they flew off.

This little guy startled me. At first I thought he was a wasp that had come back to unsettle my nerves but after a little while I realized he was no wasp. It's almost like he wanted to pose for me. I didn't even know my camera was that good.