A monarch, pipevine swallowtails, and goldfinches

There was a monarch visiting the Heliopsis and Joe-Pye in the pocket meadow in front of the house today. 

I didn't manage to get back out quickly enough to get a picture, but as I did come out (with iPhone in hand),  a goldfinch was feeding on purple coneflower seeds, and left quickly, with my approach.

This monarch was out on the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday (my gardening companion's photo).

When I was picking beans later in the day (a twice a day activity), a pipevine swallowtail drifted by, accompanying all of the usual flower visitors in late afternoon.

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More monarchs

A warm afternoon yesterday saw more monarchs nectaring on the big Buddleia, as they were heading south.

These must be some of the last stragglers (I hope). By the weekend, temperatures look to be seasonally cold, and probably the first frost/freeze -- depending on the the lows.

The first monarchs are expected in Mexico any day now.

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Still more monarchs

one of many monarchs nectaring on the large Buddleia

The flow of monarchs continues;  the abundant Buddleia flowers are actively being visited, with the nectar resources shared with Painted Ladies, skippers and other butterflies, and bees of all sorts!

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Monarchs, in abundance!

I wish I'd managed a photo today, but our one butterfly bush (Buddleia spp.) was covered in nectaring monarchs all afternoon, along with a few painted ladies and frittilaries.

There were at least 25 monarchs visiting, at about 4 pm, when I went out to check with my gardening companion (and assistant, too).  Marvelous.

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Monarch migration

Check out my garden blogger friend Kylee's post about monarchs in her midwestern garden.

Wow!

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Waiting for monarchs

I brought some Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) shoots and (dug-up) plants to share with a friend in the mountains.  She's "fostering" monarch caterpillars through Monarch Watch (I think).  What a great thing to do!

I had plenty of milkweed in the Piedmont, but the chilly spring has meant slow emergence in the mountains.  And the numbers of monarchs overwintering was at a really low point this year, so help (for the successive broods as they come north) is especially important.

Planting milkweeds of all sorts, but particularly common milkweed, is especially important, as it helps their journey north, as it takes at least 4 generations to make it to the farthest point!

My favorite site for tracking the adults is Journey North, but there are others, too.

And my friend shared this great video about the journey of Monarchs via her Facebook page, which I'm reposting here.

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Fall color

 A beautiful fall day had me admiring the purples in the dogwoods and the exuberance of the (non-cut-back swamp sunflower) in the border that we see from the porch.

from the porch

Normally, I would have reduced the stem height in June, but didn't this year.  The tall stems are now flopping dramatically, but are really quite pleasing.  And the buddleia to the right continues to host an abundance of butterflies, including the last push of monarchs, as they're moving south.

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A cloud of Monarchs

Monarch on Helianthus

It's been cloudy and cool the last couple of days, but Friday and Saturday were sunny and mild. 

There were clouds of Monarchs and other butterflies visiting the Buddleia and exuberant Helianthus (Swamp Sunflower) in the border that I see from my study window. (The Helianthus hadn't been cut back this year).

Taking a turn outside with Woody (who's recovering from knee surgery and needs to be kept quiet), I enjoyed the show.

There were over 15 Monarchs (it was hard to count) visiting flowers, along with Gulf Fritillaries and Sulfurs.  Quite nice!

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