Great shot of Yellow Swallowtail on coneflower! I had 3 little unplanted pack pots of fennel on the patio. Last week while I was working out there I thought I saw bugs on fennel and was about to swat and/or squish them but thought I'd better chech with magnifying glass to make sure. Turns out they were Black Swallowtail caterpillars in first instar. I've got 4 of them in mesh enclosure chowing down fennel and are all at different levels of 5th instar already. Saw one shed it's last instar skin today. He/she was shaking the tail as if trying to get out of a pair of tight jeans...LOL. Now just have to keep an eye on them so they don't wander too far in enclosure before deciding where they want to pupate. Interesting fact I found on Butterfly Forum. I asked what nectar plants I should get since most of mine have been eaten and won't bloom anytime soon. Was told when you release a butterfly it probably won't nectar in your garden but fly off and go somewhere else! How's that for manners...LOL. I have one Echinacea 'Kim's Knee High' that's in bloom out front that these guys might like if they make it through pupation. Was reminded of it when I saw your echinacea which is beautiful. Thanks for sharing pics!

my best plant for bees and butterflies --by far-- is the sweet almond verbena it is not a pretty plant but is easily grown and survives droughts or plentiful rainfall mine is about 10 feet tall and maybe 8-10 feet in diameter and does well in sun and slight shade smells like root beer has white flowers that look like butterfly bush flowers bees in particular love this plant....

The following is a recent article posted on the GW Bee Forum from the British paper The Guardian about the problems that some pesticides can cause for bees. Pesticides: Germany bans chemicals linked to honeybee devastation * Friday May 23 2008 Germany has banned a family of pesticides that are blamed for the deaths of millions of honeybees. The German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has suspended the registration for eight pesticide seed treatment products used in rapeseed oil and sweetcorn. The move follows reports from German beekeepers in the Baden-Wttemberg region that two thirds of their bees died earlier this month following the application of a pesticide called clothianidin. "It's a real bee emergency," said Manfred Hederer, president of the German Professional Beekeepers' Association. "50-60% of the bees have died on average and some beekeepers have lost all their hives." Tests on dead bees showed that 99% of those examined had a build-up of clothianidin. The chemical, produced by Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of the German chemical giant Bayer, is sold in Europe under the trade name Poncho. It was applied to the seeds of sweetcorn planted along the Rhine this spring. The seeds are treated in advance of being planted or are sprayed while in the field. The company says an application error by the seed company which failed to use the glue-like substance that sticks the pesticide to the seed, led to the chemical getting into the air. Bayer spokesman Dr Julian Little told the BBC's Farming Today that misapplication is highly unusual. "It is an extremely rare event and has not been seen anywhere else in Europe," he said. Clothianidin, like the other neonicotinoid pesticides that have been temporarily suspended in Germany, is a systemic chemical that works its way through a plant and attacks the nervous system of any insect it comes into contact with. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency it is "highly toxic" to honeybees. This is not the first time that Bayer, one of the world's leading pesticide manufacturers with sales of Â5.8bn (£4.6bn) in 2007, has been blamed for killing honeybees. In the United States, a group of beekeepers from North Dakota is taking the company to court after losing thousands of honeybee colonies in 1995, during a period when oilseed rape in the area was treated with imidacloprid. A third of honeybees were killed by what has since been dubbed colony collapse disorder. Bayer's best selling pesticide, imidacloprid, sold under the name Gaucho in France, has been banned as a seed dressing for sunflowers in that country since 1999, after a third of French honeybees died following its widespread use. Five years later it was also banned as a sweetcorn treatment in France. A few months ago, the company's application for clothianidin was rejected by French authorities. Bayer has always maintained that imidacloprid is safe for bees if correctly applied. "Extensive internal and international scientific studies have confirmed that Gaucho does not present a hazard to bees," said Utz Klages, a spokesman for Bayer CropScience. Last year, Germany's Green MEP, Hiltrud Breyer, tabled an emergency motion calling for this family of pesticides to be banned across Europe while their role in killing honeybees were thoroughly investigated. Her action follows calls for a ban from beekeeping associations and environmental organisations across Europe. Philipp Mimkes, spokesman for the German-based Coalition Against Bayer Dangers, said: "We have been pointing out the risks of neonicotinoids for almost 10 years now. This proves without a doubt that the chemicals can come into contact with bees and kill them. These pesticides shouldn't be on the market."

Thats good news except I wonder what the 'alternative' will be. I stopped buying flowers at Home Depot because of this. I plant Milkweed for the butterflies and look for nectar plants for bees and butterflies. The Home Depot plants did contain a label stating that nano-insecticides had been used on the plants. I noticed the label as I was checking out and refused to buy the plants. I explained to the lady at check-out and she was very surprised. I've started buying my own seeds and growing my annuals. Not so bad and a lot cheaper. I have 6 flats of various Zinnias, Salvias, parsley, petunias, etc. sitting outside on my lawn. All are about ready to put in the ground. Jane