I had a wonderful walk through my cottage garden the other day. I can't even begin to describe the scent in the air from the Oriental and Orienpet Lilies ! Mixed with the scent of a few other flowers like roses and mints there is no perfume like it.
I was fortunate to see two Pipevine (or Blue) Swallowtails in the Bee Balm (Monarda). The adults live only 6-14 days so I guess that day was my lucky day. I was at the right place at the right time. I was also lucky to get pictures since their forewings never stopped beating and as soon as I focused in the camera it seemed they would take flight, dance in the air for a bit and then visit the Bee Balm again.
They live on plants species belonging to the genus Aristolochia like Dutchman's Pipe and I happen to have some of that invasive vine growing on a trellis in the middle of my cottage garden. And in the picture above those heart shaped leaves that look out of place is Dutchman's Pipe that escaped from the trellis.
As a defensive adaptation, the Pipevine Swallowtail draw aristolochic acid from the food plants they consume in order to protect themselves from predators by being poisonous when consumed by the latter.
Oh joy!
And continuing on...
12 comments:
Your garden is looking lush and green, Cathy! That's a beautiful butterfly you spotted, too. I enjoyed wandering the garden with you today!
I love the garden walks. Your pictures are beautiful.
your bee balm is such a lovely purple, mine was a very light lavender I wish it had been darker.
You have so many beautiful lilies!!:))) Their colors are so wonderful, aren't they? Many shades in one bloom even Thanks for sharing hugs, Julierose
Your photos are marvellous. How amazing to be able to spot and snap those beautiful butterflies. I haven’t seen many butterflies in our garden this year. - perhaps our weird and varied weather is to blame? Super flower pictures too.
I was worried for the first part of summer being so dry here (central IL) that we wouldn't see much pollinator action, but they're making up for it now: i'm seeing red admirals, commas, eastern tiger swallowtails and - thankfully - monarchs! on the liatris these past couple of days. It makes my heart so glad! They truly are magical little beasties.
Ohhhhhh, those colors!!!!!!!!
The color contrast between the Bee Balm and the butterfly makes a beautiful photo. I think it would be hard to come back inside after walking through all of nature's beauty.
Thanks for the lovely garden tour, so much beauty, tipped off by the gorgeous butterflies.
Absolutely breathtaking!
Gorgeous flowers (especially what I guess are the Orienpet lilies). And those butterfly pictures are amazing. I don't think we have that kind around here.
Pat
So glad to see you've been able to enjoy a quiet stroll through your scented garden. Thank you for sharing the photos and information about the butterflies and flowers.
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