This tiger swallowtail (papilio glaucus) has been my garden guest most of the morning. He might have been attracted to my watering. They like to "puddle" in wet places when they're thirsty. I was out early this morning with the hose after being gone all weekend. The plants were fine, but they were definitely thirsty too.
I love to water. No sprinklers for me. It keeps me in the garden. I keep the hose low, just at the roots to prevent the blooms from getting to heavy and falling over. In this heat I want to encourage the blooms to last a little longer, and a drink always helps.
I've planted summer flowers to attack wildlife, and yes, this common butterfly is most definitely wildlife. As you can see, he really loves the coneflowers, or echinacea. This hardy native loves full sun, and if you're so inclined, you can use the leaves, flowers, and roots of the coneflower to make echinacea tea, a natural antioxidant. (Pour boiling water over a quarter cup of plant material and let it sit for 5 minutes. Strain and drink - after adding some honey I think.)
The swallowtail was really drinking up this morning. He flitted from one tall stem to the other and took long swigs of the nectar from each prickly disk.
I can say he, and not she, because he has four black tiger-like strips on his yellow wings. A female will also have blue spots on her hindwing - very pretty. This butterfly may be home-grown from our garden, actually. We have a wild black cherry, which is one of the trees that caterpillars of this species likes to eat.
I was thrilled that this butterfly spent so much time with me this morning. It was a nice payoff for planning a garden that provides habitat for wildlife. Our garden is a Certified Wildlife Habitat, through the National Wildlife Federation. I'll tell you more about habitat gardens in future People and Places.
