Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Sunday, July 06, 2008
The Butterfly Airport
Have you heard of the Fourth of July butterfly counts? I have my own undisciplined, unscientific version which consists of hanging around the Butterfly Airport (Verbena bonariensis) and watching.
OK that first picture was a moth, not a butterfly, but looks to me just like a plane taking off. I haven't been able to get a good photo of the larger scene with all the butterflies fluttering around the flowers - this is the best one.
In just a few minutes, I counted six species (maybe more; all those indistinguishable brown skippers!) - Black Swallowtail, Clouded Sulphur, Eastern Tailed Blue, Gray Hairstreak, Sachem?, and Cabbage White.
The flower in the middle picture above is Verbena hastata 'Pink Spires'. It's sort of a secondary airport for smaller butterflies.
Other butterflies seen over the weekend, but not on Verbena and not photographed, were Regal Fritillary, Common Buckeye, and some type of Crescent.
Labels: butterflies, insects, moths, verbena
11 Comments:
wow, wow, wow! somebody please turn on the butterfly switch here in NY! great photos, especially the moth one! i know how hard it is to get a shot like that!
my verbena bonariensis, which is an annual here, is just starting to open. hopefully i'll have my own verbena bonariensis town soon!
Those are such great photographs!
How is it that all of you have verbena bonariensis in flower (or just starting to open, in the case of Em) when I just have little started sprouts of reseeders? *pouting*
Your verbenas are strking with the different butterflies. I like your approach to the fourth of July butterfly count ... you captured some great images!
Your photos are wonderful, Entangled - thanks for catching the butterflies and sharing.
Our Verbena bonariensis/butterfly airport has been blooming so long (sorry, Kim) that some heads are gone to seed. I was going to cut the plants off at ground level to resprout but once we saw finches clinging upside down on the verbena, dining on the seeds, I let the stalks remain.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Em: I'll be looking for your butterfly photos!
Blackswamp Girl: V. b. has been surprisingly perennial here. I pulled out most of the self-sown seedlings, but they were really thick this year too.
Kate: Well, it was part of a long relaxing weekend. It'd be interesting to participate in one of the official counts (maybe when I'm retired).
Annie: What a coincidence! There were 2 goldfinches clinging to the stems recently. I thought there couldn't possibly be seeds already, but maybe the birds know better.
Fabulous photos!!
I need to get some of those plants - my butterfly feeder, specially designed to appeal to butterflies, hasn;t bought any to my garden!
I love the picture of the hummingbird moth. I haven't seen one in years. I don't know if we have them here in NC. We had alot of them in our garden in NJ. Thanks for some memories!
Godelieve: Thank you!
Nicola: I've been eyeing those butterfly feeders, wondering if they work. Verbena bonariensis is pretty easy to grow.
Sherri: Aren't those moths cool? I remember the first time I saw one, thinking What is THAT?
Beautiful photos! And new plants I'll "need" to add to my garden. I sure enjoyed seeing yours.
Kim: I think Verbena bonariensis should be high on every gardener's list of "needed" plants ;-) You'll probably only have to buy it once - it self sows like mad in unmulched areas.
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