The Pipevine Butterfly

As you've seen this past month, the butterfly show has kicked into full gear and I won't be done for awhile with the finds.

Another rare treat to our desert is the Pipevine Butterfly.  It's large blackish blue with dazzling dots.

Last year I hadn't seen many of them but this year, they've been everywhere!  In fact, this butterfly stopped by El Presidio one day and had the residents oooing and ahhing.  I was shocked.  Why?

This particular butterfly is threatened or endangered in some areas, but I don't think it is here as it has a large range to flutter about.

This butterfly loves all kinds of plants like the infamous butterfly bush, vincas, lantanas, verbena, and milkweed.  But there are certainly many more plants that it will visit.   It's tricky here in Arizona because in spring, we love our wildflower gardens but we can also pick millions of other themes for our places.....like the Butterfly Garden!!!  My Butterfly Garden hasn't begun yet because the fountain hasn't gone into the space....but when it does, these colorful and magnificent plants will go into that spot. 

September is the month of the butterfly here.  An explosion really.  And if you set your garden up right , your guests will feel like they're walking in one of those cheesy Disney movies. Plus you'll be the talk of the neighborhood. Today's photo shoot was taken at the Ash Canyon B & B.  And the garden is by Mary Jo.  

Stay tuned for more....

Swallowtail Love

The butterflies have been out of this world this year.  So so many of them!!!  If you notice this Giant Swallowtail flying around your citrus plants, pay attention to what this butterfly is doing.

It's laying eggs on the leaves which the caterpillars love to eat.

These pics were taken at El Presidio.  They will look like they're killing your plant, but they're not:)  The leaves will be chomped down to the nub and will grow back later.

Giant Swallowtail

They grab your attention(like they did me) and hold us captivated for many a long moment.  It's hard to have a conversation with another person when this butterfly is flying around the garden.

So if you notice bird droppings that look like this....

These photos were taken by me before I watermarked them.  They're right out of El Presidio.

 or this......

Swallowtail Caterpillar

 or this, don't stress.  They'll grow up to be beautiful butterflies.  More tomorrow.....

Winning Combination Part 3

Today ends my series about placing plants in your garden that will attract wildlife.  The summer is still here and it's hot and humid.  These are perfect conditions for butterflies.  In fact, many of us desert lovers will notice an explosion of Queens and Swallowtails flying around our yards.  And there are more of course that require our attention like the Gulf Fritillary butterfly.  Before I continue onwards, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be back again today.  I went on a weekend hunt which turned up some incredible finds. In fact, there are some exciting things coming up BUT it took away from my reading time on blogger.  I'll be back tomorrow morning(U.S. AZ time) catching up reading and commenting.  Time is ticking here in the desert with my hummingbird finds and I needed to get on the road ASAP to locate more for the Chuparosa challenge. And I've found more:) So onwards with today's write.....

For gardeners, I have written a post that you may find helpful on the Passion vine.  Many of Tucsonan gardeners get irritated by a caterpillar that eats the vine.  Well it's this butterfly that absolutely loves this plant! In fact, while doing the photography, it was laying eggs all over the leaves:)  Why do Tucsonans go stark ravin' mad?  Well this vine does very very well here with water.  It will take scorching sun and grow.  Very few tropical plants can handle our kind of brutal sun here.  It also grows very fast and has the most gorgeous purple, white or red flowers.  The problem?  This butterfly gets busy with the vine before it can take off:) The caterpillar eats the leaf down to a stub and while it doesn't kill the vine, the plant looks pretty shabby:)

But look at this butterfly!!!  The only reason you place a passion vine in your garden is just so you can attract these lovely orange insects. And if you love plants more than the wildlife, you can always pic the larva off the vine:)  But I like to see the butterflies fly around the gardens.  

During our monsoon season, our butterflies are really active.  I volunteer at the Tucson Botanical Gardens in the butterfly pavillion with Elizabeth during the fall.  The temps outside are similiar to what you'll feel inside the greenhouse during the winter months.  And it can be uncomfortable:)

But it's the perfect environment for butterflies.  If you'd like butterflies in your garden, but don't want the leaf damage, there are other options out there but it will attract different butterflies.  Check out this Tucson Garden from 2010.  It's a perfect example on how you can attract lots and lots of Queens into your area.  And when I write "Queens", I mean the butterflies people:) I believe there is video with that post as well(again with only Queen butterflies). 

Finally, last year during my Garden Journal series, I had a post that gives you some great plant choices for your desert garden in Tucson. It's quite extensive.  Click here.  On a side note, I love how everything on this blog is beginning to connect together.  The base/beginning work was tedious, but it's all coming together nicely.   Hope you've enjoyed this mini series of writes or at least the pics:) More tomorrow...