So a Zebra Longwing, a Sleepy Orange Sulfur and a Giant Swallowtail flew into my yard.
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August 2017
So a few Zebra Longwings, a Sleepy Orange Sulfur and a Giant Swallowtail flew into my yard. They are working on the aster known as Smallanthus. I wrote about this perennial last year. That bucket has pretty flower pictures.
There’s also another plant being visited — Hyptis - aka Clustered Bushmint - that towers over the 3-4’ Smallanthus. Well, it's taller than me when it ain't leaning over or down on the ground. There’s a constant barrage of seedlings and 2nd year plants ready to take over if an opening clears.
This is where I was yesterday morning - wading thru pulling up plants I don't want.
This 20-foot band of green crosses the hill between my small yard and the start of the deeper woods. I use trails to define the edges so it's not quite as wild as it appears - a managed wildness. Plants like Beggar-ticks (Bidens alba) are great for butterflies but very weedy so I pulled that and a couple others. I see a few plants in the photo I missed so it's not like I'll be rid of them, just slowing the spread. Also chopped back the usual small scrubby oak, sweetgum, laurel cherry and hickory.
The Sleepy Orange Sulfur is a new one on me even tho they are common. It's small and lost in the foliage, plus I can't get very close to them. As it was, I got bit thru the socks by mosquitos while standing there on the path watching, waiting and focusing for 8 minutes. When I worked thru before, I was wearing big rubber boots.
The Giant Swallowtail (left) comes thru the yard, almost daily it seems, to fly around or stop at the Citrus tree, a host for their caterpillars. Not often I see them feeding.
Altho the swallowtail looks bigger, the longwing can drive it off — as it did here. In the side by side photos, if you look close, you can tell that they are on the same flower. Lots of fun to watch them but generally during the day it is thru binocs from inside or on the deck..
Short bucket for me today but let's see if we can fill it up with news of your backyard. Thanks for stopping by...
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