Two Old World Swallowtails have been visiting my garden and I finally got a few shots today!
They don‘t settle for long though!
Have you had any pretty visitors today?
Two Old World Swallowtails have been visiting my garden and I finally got a few shots today!
They don‘t settle for long though!
Have you had any pretty visitors today?
Words and Herbs 
Your butterfly looks very similar to a kind we have here. I bought several kinds of host plants and have 3 to 4 different kinds of butterflies showing up in the garden.
Now the buddleia is opening we have more and more daily. But only three or four common visitors. This one is rarer. 😃
They are such lovely butterflies, they look like butterflies should look. Amelia
Yes, kind of old-fashioned. 😉
I only found this out very recently, but apparently butterflies loves nettles.
Yes, lots of them lay eggs on nettles so the larvae can feed on them. Many weeds such as thistles are also favourites… always a dilemma whether to cut them down or not!
We cut nettles that are within 20m of the veg patch to deter butterflies from laying eggs on our brassicas. I’m not if it’s going to help. The nettles are used to make nettle tea.
My partner made two huge barrels full of nettle tea and most of it was distributed last week. Smelly stuff! 😜
It’s super smelly but it works a treat.
Oh, so beautiful. What a fine thing to see in the garden!
Other than the Silver-spotted Skipper I posted yesterday, we’ve been seeing Eastern Tiger Swallowtails (I have larvae on my dill), a couple different Fritillaries, Cabbage Whites (of course!), and Monarchs are starting to arrive, something we eagerly anticipate.
We have lots of Cabbage Whites too at the moment! And plenty of peacocks and Tortoiseshells. 🦋
None of my visitors were that pretty.
What a shame. But surely you will have Monarchs? They are beautfiul. We don‘t have them here.
A neighborhood I lived in while in school was Monarch Grove because of the monarch butterflies that swarmed the blue and red gums there annually. People loved the swarming butterflies, but because they swarmed there, they neglected native species that rely on them for pollination.
That is often the case… people don‘t start noticing we need to protect the plants they feed on until they start disappearing…
Not many people here now have been here long enough to remember when California poppy was so much more common and prolific locally.
PRETTY PICTURES
Thank you! 😃
Yours is beautiful with stronger markings than ones I see. Very few butterflies or moths so far here.
We are getting more by the day now that the buddleia is opening. 😃
Oh, beautiful photographs! Swallowtails are so graceful; I saw a few today during a hike. 🙂
Yes, graceful describes them very well. 😃
Nothing as pretty as yours!
Sw the first hummingbird hawk moth yesterday too. 😃
Love those. I haven’t seen one this year.
I’ve seen a few common yellow swallowtails and a couple black swallowtails. The Monarchs should show up in a few weeks. Unfortunately, though, this year I have very little around that attracts them. Well, there is still the Joe Pye weed–they seem to love that! Congrats on your visitors!
Joe Pye Weed is great for our butterflies too, especially the Silver-washed Fritillaries. 😃 They also love thistles so we make sure there are a few left standing. But not too many as thistle seedlings are tough to get out my flower beds! Ouch! 😉
What a lovely visitor and I’m sure you were very excited to catch a photo too. No swallowtails here yet, just one lone Monarch, but soon more will come. They are always such a delight to behold.
Yes, I saw our first hummingbird hawk moth yesterday and it makes my heart skip to see them! 😃
Is that the moth that looks very similar to the hummingbird? I didn’t know that it had hawk as part of its name. That makes is sound sinister.
Oh, not at all sinister Cindy! Here is a link to an old post where there are a couple shown.. https://wordsandherbs.wordpress.com/2014/08/30/a-butterfly-diary-august/
Beautiful! The only Swallowtail I’ve been seeing lately is the Black Swallowtail.
Also a beauty. This is the only swallowtail we get in our part of the world, and rare too. So it is always extra special to spot one. 😃