Lovely Carrie. I was hoping for a few in my garden but the birds nearby are making a feast of their caterpillars.

what a pretty visitor you have there! Must make you feel great that you've created a place where butterflies visit. :)

Thank you Ianna and Jody.

It does feel great to have visitors of all stripes to the gardens. This has been a quite a year for butterflies, dragonflies, fireflies and humming birds. We have swallowtail, Painted Ladies, Monarchs and a few more that I don't know the name of. One is black with a white stripe across it's back. And another is orange and brown with a fat fuzzy body.

The strange thing is this year I didn't see any caterpillars. The past few years my first flush of roses have been devoured by caterpillars but this year they were untouched. What are the odds they ate someone else's rose and then flew to my garden?

Carrie

Great photos, and so very pretty. I am planting more varieties to entice the butterflies, nectar and hosting. I have recently added butterfly bushes Pink Delight, Miss Ruby, Adonis, & Blue Chip. Along with a passion vine (as an annual unless I can overwinter), blanket flowers, monardas Gardenview Scarlet, and Coral Reef, etc.

How long does the catmint bloom?

Thank you. Jane

Jane- Catmint is one of my absolute favorites. It blooms from the middle of May until the end of September. Bees, Butterflies and Humming Birds love it and mosquitoes hate it. I think it makes a beautiful back drop in the garden and smells great!

I tried 7 different verities of Butterfly Bush from seed this spring the all germinated. But I'm starting to get worried they won't be big enough to survive the winter. They are only about an inch tall. I have my fingers crossed. I am very excited for them. If it doesn't pan out I will try again year and start them earlier.

Carrie

Cool photos.

Is this like the orange/brown/fuzzy one you've seen? I just saw this guy a week or so ago. I don't know what he is either. But Grandma, what big eyes you have!

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carrie, you should be very proud to bring such beauty to the viewers of your pictures. Thank you.

Gorgeous photos of beautiful flowers and the Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly too.

The white one with black stripes is a White Tiger. Rare visitor to anyone's garden, at least to me they are. I had them several years ago, but not before or since.

~Annie

Beautiful.

That white one is especially beautiful.

I had some Eastern Tiger Swallowtails very early this year, but haven't had any since. Normally I start seeing them in July in my garden.

Bungalow-house, that is a silver spotted skipper. I get them too.

Absolutely gorgeous.I must go back and look at some more of your pics when time permits. This may be a dumb question,but does that catmint draw cats to your yard?? I love how it looks,but i don't want a yard full of cats,no offense to anyone!!
TFS
Kathi

Those pictures are so gorgeous. I never seem to have the camera when I see the butterflies. You know I have planted a new garden bed in hope of attracting more butterflies and to give them nectar and host plants.

The mourniong cloak is a beautiful butterfly, but the nectar plants aren't what he is after.

I have bought a cat mint, but I plan to let it grow a bit in the greenhouse so maybe cats won't destroy it immediately. My Joe Pye weed is about to bloom.. the pink butterfly bush is blooming gloriously. Everything is growing and shaping. I planted another dozen zennias today. My neighbor sowed seeds from last year and has a very thick stand of zinnias. She told me to take as many as I wanted, and you couldn't tell I had taken any.

The zennias I planted are blooming now...heavy on yellow, but that's okay.

Today, I finished the new iris bed...heat and all. I planted the iris Rita sent me, Does Z Doe, and one other one, Indigo Sea, that I had potted last year when it tried to rot. . There is room for only about 20 in the bed. that means I still have to find more room for some of the new iris coming. Ah well, not a bad problem to have.
kay

Thank you all for your sweet comments. I'm blushing a little. =0) We are all lucky to have something we love so much that we can share and enjoy with others. With so much trouble in the world, coming here with all of you kind and gifted gardeners gives me hope.

Bungalow house- That's a great shot. He looks a little scary. Those really are Big Eyes. LOL Although that's not the one I had in mind.

I found a great site listing all Nova Scotia butterflies. It has tons of butterfly information. I will post the link in case anyone is interested. I found the two I had in mind. The black one with the white strip is a White Admiral and the orange and brown one is an American Copper. I recognize many others from the list as occasional visitors.

Annie- Wow, a White Tiger Butterfly, that is so special!!! I wish you were right. The White Admirals I have are common here in Nova Scotia.

Kathi- I live way back in the woods and I don't have any cats. So I can't be sure. Although the Bob Cats we have back here from time to time have never touched it. It seems to me that Lavender lass posted something about her cats getting into her Catmint. Maybe someone else will know.

Kay- I know what you mean about not having your camera. I have missed countless opportunities to capture great wildlife shots because my camera's sitting on the kitchen counter. Frustrating! At lest our flowers don't run from us.

Keep your pictures coming Kay!!! All the hard work you put into your garden sure pays off. It's gorgeous!

Carrie

Here is a link that might be useful: Butterflies of Nova Scotia

Stunning photos! Thanks for posting.

I chaught a few pictures of a White Admiral this afternoon.

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Carrie