Butterfly Image of the Day

Isn't she one of the most gorgeous of all? The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is quite abundant here and there isn't any time of day you can't go outside to watch them. They get started early morning, drinking nectar and playing until sundown. The Butterfly Bush beside the garage in the front yard is more like the butterflies local pub and on really humid days it's a hopping club. You'd think some big name band was in there playing away.

It's not hard to attract these with a few nectar sources, but if you want an abundance of them, you can plant the hosts that the caterpillars will feed off of. Known hosts along the East Coast include Tulip tree, Wild Cherries, and Wafer Ash. There are a lot of Wild Cherry trees in the areas surrounding my house, so I don't have to do anything for these guys. Very low maintenance for looking so good don't you think?