Pipevine Swallowtail
The orange flower here is a milkweed called butterfly weed. Its brilliant orange flowers attract many kinds of butterflies, including this swallowtail. At the Prairie Garden Trust (PGT) they are … Continued
Tiger Swallowtail
With more plants flowering I’m seeing more butterflies. This is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail feeding on Pickerelweed. Pickerel weed is one of my favorite wildflowers for the water’s edge. They … Continued
Great Spangled Fritillary
The coneflowers have started blooming and I’ve been seeing more butterflies. Here’s a Great Spangled Fritillary drinking nectar from a Pale Purple Coneflower. You can see coneflowers in the gardens … Continued
Green Milkweed
I found this wildflower (also called Spider Milkweed) blooming in the prairie last week. It’s easy to overlook because it’s short and has green flowers. Milkweeds are the host for … Continued
Giant Swallowtail
I saw the first Giant Swallowtail of the season yesterday. They are the largest butterfly in North America. It was feeding on the wild Black Raspberry and the Blackberries, which … Continued
Eastern Tailed Blue
Over the past month I’ve been seeing these tiny blue butterflies flying low to the ground searching for wildflowers. Here it’s on a Wild Geranium.
Tiger Swallowtail
As Spring progresses, I’m seeing several kinds of butterflies. Here a Swallowtail is feeding on the flowers of a crabapple tree.
Monarch Butterfly
I’m still seeing a few Monarchs come through on their migration south. Except for the asters, most of the wildflowers have finished blooming. We are coming to the end of … Continued
Buckeye Butterfly
The Buckeye is a medium-sized butterfly with conspicuous round eyespots. We saw 5 of them on the PGT Butterfly Walk last weekend.
PGT Butterfly Walk
We saw 5 Giant Swallowtails on the PGT Butterfly Walk yesterday. They are the largest butterfly in North America. Altogether we saw 28 different kinds of butterflies with a total … Continued