Georgia State Butterfly
I am sending these pics for your enjoyment. I also have a bunch of pics of Tiger Swallowtails on Purple Coneflowers. The Tiger Swallowtail appears to be a somewhat picky eater. Until I took these pics, I had only seen these beauties on my coneflowers. They flew by all the rest of my flowers and I have hundreds of flowers in yard, more than 30 types.
Jacqui
Hi Jacqui,
Thanks so much for providing us with personal observations. We have Tiger Swallowtails in our own Mt. Washington garden in Los Angeles, but they never alight on blossoms. It appears your other photos are on lantana in addition to the sunflower we are posting. Growing up in Ohio, Swallowtails and many other butterflies as well as Hummingbird Moths were attracted to Mom’s summer phlox.
Wow!! Never did I dream that I would be posted on your website!! I am VERY HONORED. BTW, you have a great eye! You were correct in identifying the other flower besides the sunflower as a lantana. (After living in South Texas and SoCal I primarily xeriscape and lantana’s are very heat and draught tolerant. With the 2 year draught we have been having in South/Middle Georgia, it is a good thing!) I had considered naming the flowers in the pics but I wasn’t sure of the relevancy… It is interesting that my observation about Tiger Swallowtails’ food preferences is correct. I am sorry that none “visit” your flowers 🙁 I bet if you add some lantana and purple coneflower to your garden — both of which should do very well in your area — you will see much more of these gorgeous butterflies. Sunflowers are fun, too, but don’t always fit into a garden plan. FYI, hundreds of vine swallowtails pass through my garden but alight on NOTHING!! They must be VERY picky eaters indeed. Additionally, there is another big butterfly that passes through my yard which I have not yet been able to identify but is primarily orange and brown (not a monarch or viceroy, both of which frequent my yard, too) who is very conscious of — and concerned about — the ability of a flower to support its weight. If a flower bends in the least under its weight, the butterfly moves on. He flits here and there very rapidly and with apparent frustration at being unable to get the nectar out of sooo many flowers. Poor thing… I was thinking about about phlox to my garden next year. I think I definitely will now. Thanks for the tip!!
Jacqui
P.S. I have your fav spider in my yard, too. First, one was on the sage bush with Big Moma (the preying mantis who regenerated a big rear leg) for days — but on opposite side of the bush and for good reason. Then, I found another one on a sunflower. I had NEVER seen one of those spiders before. They ARE beautiful!! A couple of days later, I found him on your website 😉 Sadly, none of my first set of pics, where the spider was on the sage, turned out well. I only have a basic digital camera — no fancy zoom lens or high speed shutter. I NEED those bells and whistles!! I have not yet checked the shots of the spider on the sunflower. Cross your fingers!!