This time of year I mainly switch from photographing birds to butterflies and bugs. Several years ago I started this butterfly patch to make it easier to photograph them. The picture is taken from my living room where in the winter I do a lot of bird photography on the setups which I switch around when I get bored with the current ones. The plants include Dogbane, Swamp Milkweed, Common Milkweed, Mountain Mint, Mist Flower, Bergamot, Bee Balm, Blue Lobelia, Cardinal Flower, New England Aster and various unwelcome natives Honewort, Mugwort, Smart Weed, and invasive Japanese Stilt Grass. The bushes are Spicebush which is the host for Spicebush Swallowtails. The purple flowers are Hosta's which is not a native but the hummingbirds and some butterflies like them.
My attempt at a dry stone is not as good as the ones back in the UK.
Out of view are some pots of Parsley, Italian Parsley, Dill, Fennel and Rue all of which are host to the Black Swallowtail and more Swamp Milkweed. They're not doing well this year because a Groundhog sampled them. Most years they have several nice caterpillars on them. In an area that gets a lot of sunlight I've planted New York Iron Weed, Joe Pye Weed, and Mexican Sunflowers.
Here's a few pictures taken over the years.
My attempt at a dry stone is not as good as the ones back in the UK.
Out of view are some pots of Parsley, Italian Parsley, Dill, Fennel and Rue all of which are host to the Black Swallowtail and more Swamp Milkweed. They're not doing well this year because a Groundhog sampled them. Most years they have several nice caterpillars on them. In an area that gets a lot of sunlight I've planted New York Iron Weed, Joe Pye Weed, and Mexican Sunflowers.
Here's a few pictures taken over the years.
