We’ve been chasing around our yards, camera in hand, to snap photos of the butterflies making their August appearance. Chasing is the operative word. Butterflies just don’t listen when you tell them to sit still and say cheese.
black swallowtail
My sister kindly invited me to attend her garden club meeting to hear a presentation by Dennis Schight who has written The Butterflies of Iowa. His book is a great guide for identifying butterflies and creating habitats to insure we can continue enjoying their beauty. Clearly, Mr. Schlight is passionate about nature and in educating the rest of us about the positive contributions we can make. While butterflies are fairly easy to identify, it is more difficult for me to identify the egg, caterpillar and chrysalis stages, so his book is a useful resource.
Yellow Swallow Tailed Butterfly
Some of the plants in my garden that the butterflies seem to like best are Purple Coneflower, Phlox, Liatris, Joe-pye Weed, Butterfly Weed, Solidago and New England Asters. There are other plants they enjoy which vary according to the area in which you live and the butterflies who might visit. I also have several shallow ceramic platters which I keep barely moist for their water needs.
soon-to-be butterfly