Homecoming

Aug 12.  I returned home after being away to find some milkweed in the garden growing tall , zinnias  and penta blooming well, and yellow cone flowers gone!  Too much moisture, I think.  The butterflies were enjoying all the blooms.  A constant visitor, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, was there as a male-female pair and hopefully will lay some eggs! But the Spicebush Swallowtail really put on a show   flitting about and coming in for a landing.  In the late afternoon, 6:15-6:30, the Swallowtails get their last snack  and begin to leave, going up into the trees.   

August 13.  A new visitor, the Acacia Skipper,  is so dark and so small, that it is hard to see at the edge of the Penta blooms.  In addition to the Swallowtails—black and yellow and many skippers—I spotted a Cabbage White.   It is so much fun to anticipate what I might see the next day!

​August 14  Today, there were eight black swallowtails, four yellow swallowtails, and many, many skippers, so much activity!.  The Spicebush Swallowtail is always a beautiful sight   and favors Lantana and Butterfly Bush, all colors.  The Silver Spotted Skipper feeds on almost everything!  One of the milkweed plants is blooming, a bright yellow,  but some of the milkweed has been attacked severely by aphids ☹. These are serious infestations!

​August 15.  I used just water and soap for the spray for the aphids.  Unfortunately, one large plant was affected so much that I cut it out.  I see a few ladybugs and hope that they can help.  A surprise this morning was to find a serious Praying Mantis on the milkweed, a majestic figure; perhaps it will help. 
I saw a flash of orange and caught my breath, but it wasn’t a Monarch, but a Painted Lady, beautiful but with part of a lower wing missing.  She flew constantly in spite of the missing wing.    

Another new visitor, possibly a Clouded Skipper we think, was almost hidden in the butterfly bush.  It is so tiny and so fast, like the Silver Spotted Skipper, our constant member.  This one is very small.
At the end of the day, what a joy this garden is when I sit enjoying the colors of the flowers, seeing the last butterflies, and hearing a few bird calls, and what is more beautiful than this lovely Tiger Swallowtail?       

TO BE CONTINUED...