Great pics! I love to take butterfly pics too, but have a problem getting some of them to set still and open their wings...:-(
I bet you had to be very patient to get these pics.

christie- very nice photo's. you know your butterflies.
william

Loved the pics.I know you pay them to model for you. LOL
Have never had any luck in growing butterfly bushes. Will have to spend the winter looking up
how to grow them right. Thats something that will come up every year and not be a lot of work.
vickie

Great butterfly pics. That unknown might be a Spicebush Swallowtail; you could do a Google to check. I found a spicebush larva (actually neighbor did and brought it to me) crossing the road and did some research on them that was interesting.

I don't do well with the butterfly bushes either; get lots of bush, but not enough bloom........they do attract lots of butterflies though.

The black one could be a Spicebush Swallowtail. I can't tell the difference between those and black swallowtails and I guess some Tiger swallowtails are black too. It helps to have a photo to look at because I sure can't tell anything when they're flying around.

I don't think I have any pics of just the whole bush. It's not really all that showy from a distance. It blooms a long time but the blooms can sometimes be sparse and they're always lots of spent flowers on it. My kids and I like the butterflies so I'd grow it just for that reason. I've had some other butterfly bushes that didn't attract as many as this one. I don't know if it's the type or the fact that it's in more sun.

I was thinking butterfly bush was one of those "likes poor soil" plants so I just stuck it in the ground and I keep the weeds away with mulch. I've never fertilized it. I do deadhead it a little.

GLD - Did you post a photo of the spicebush larva on another forum? I think I remember it only I didn't realize at the time that it was you. lol

I saw Pink Delight at Wal-Mart this year and almost picked up another one. The foliage looked different (more gray) than mine so it made me wonder if mine is something else or maybe theirs was mismarked.

Yep, that was me.

What a dreary day today has been. At least we got another inch of rain during the night which is good.

I have a white bf bush that is promising, but still very young; a dark purple one, a pink and a lav and a huge yellow. I need to get brave and cut them way back next spring. I don't fertilize either or water.

I need to cut mine back too. They're supposed to bloom better if you do.
I had a lot of trouble getting a pic of this one with its wings open. My camera wasn't quick enough. As soon as it would open its wings, I would click, but they were closed again in the photo. I deleted at least a dozen and finally got one with open wings. I think it's either a Comma or Question Mark butterfly.
Had several pics of this pose, upside down, on my viburnum trilobum, with its wings closed looking like a dead leaf:

And finally got one with open wings. Much prettier on this side:

Christie, That 'is' a very pretty pic of a pretty butterfly. I don't think I have ever seen one.

This is the first year that I tried putting out rotten fruit (watermelon rinds) for butterflies and it attracted a few that flowers do not, like the one above. Some people have good luck with bananas too.