When birds are playing hide-and-seek and generally not in the mood for me (kind of like my kids), I turn the camera on the flowers and insects instead. They are much more cooperative, and the big lens helps me to keep a respectful distance as they dine from flower to flower.
The plants in our small flower garden are there primarily to feed nectar pollinators like bees, moths, butterflies, and hummingbirds. I’m partial to the varieties which require no maintenance and minimal watering, come back year after year, and beautify the front walkway, the vegetable garden, and windows sills. Colors vary from yellow and red to pink and purple.
- Lantana
- Milkweed
- Turkscap
- Firecracker
- Pentas
- Verbena
- Salvia
♥
Tattered and Torn
Pipevine Swallowtail
Pretty In Orange
Gulf Fritilary
Adult “Orangedog’
Giant Swallowtail
Gossamer Guy
Gray Hairstreak
Monarch Mimic
Viceroy
Texas Stopover
Georgia Satyr
Dressed To Impress
Long-tailed Skipper
Long Drink For A Long Tail
White-striped Longtail
The ‘Eyes’ Have It
Buckeye
A Gulf Coast Grass-lover
Neamathla Skipper
Not A Butterfly At All
White-tipped Black Moth
♥
Carve out space in your ‘kept’ yard for insects,
particularly moths and butterflies.
I promise — you won’t regret it!
DirtNKids Blog 
Such beauties, all of them.
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There isn’t much we don’t agree on, Tanja.
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Gorgeous! My daughter loves butterflies!
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Thank you! I can’t imagine anyone not loving butterflies. Your daughter is in good company. Beetles and flies and arachnids? Probably not…LOL
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She loves worms and snails, too! LOL
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You’ll be happy to hear that a few hours after we left Austin on our current western trip we encountered a group of migrating monarchs about 50 miles wide. The downside is that some of them ended up on the front ends of cars “migrating” east and west on Interstate 10.
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Egad. Not sure I’m ‘happy’ to read that!! Must have been a spectacular sight.
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We kept seeing the monarchs for all those miles. Unfortunately the butterflies weren’t savvy enough to fly higher than the cars.
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Some animals are learning (and even passing on to their young) how to navigate roads and moving vehicles. Unfortunately, for the insect, it takes much, much longer for DNA changes to kick in.
The monarch doesn’t stand a chance against our development, and the outlook is not looking promising for many beneficial insect species, I’m afraid.
How lovely that you got to witness the migration firsthand, Steve!
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Yes, it was quite a surprise, and only a few hours west of Austin.
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Wonderful butterfly and moth pics! 🙂
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Thanks, Tom, for coming by to say so.
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Beautiful!
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I agree…they are!!
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Gorgeous! I love butterflies. There is a beautiful butterfly garden in St Louis that is part of the Botanical Gardens. They will land on you! Love the pics… 🙂
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Thanks, Courtney. Never been to St. Louis…perhaps one day. 😀
There is a glass pyramid structure at the Houston Museum of Natural Science: Cockrell Butterfly Center. Same there, if not a less ‘natural’ setting. We go there often!
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That sounds awesome and very similar to the one in St Louis. I’m sure the kids love it too! ❤
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There’s also the Rainforest Pyramid at the Moody Gardens in Galveston:
https://www.moodygardens.com/attractions/rainforest_pyramid/
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