A "Must-Have" for Any Bird Garden
One of the anchors of our backyard garden is the butterfly bush (buddleia davidii). This amazing shrub is hardy, fast-growing, beautiful, and easy to care for. It is also one of the best attractants for both butterflies and birds. The birds find copious shelter in its branches and leaves, and the butterflies (and hummingbirds! And bees!) find sustenance in its overflow of blossoms starting in mid-summer.
Our butterfly bush is of the Black Knight variety, which produces deep purple blossoms with tiny orange centers. Each cluster contains hundreds if not thousands of blossoms. And the blossoms are amazingly fragrant, as of course, they would be, to attract the variety of butterflies and other winged creatures we see each summer, including monarchs, tiger swallowtails, cabbage butterflies, and the ubiquitous red admirals (vanessa atalanta), favorites of mine since childhood. I took this red admiral photo just last weekend, experimenting with the macro setting on my camera, and I'm pleased with the result.
I caught the tiger swallowtail a few weeks ago--he was looking a little ragged, but seemed grateful for the easy abundance of food.
Another regular visitor to the bush is the Hummingbird Moth (hemaris thysbe). This moth is nearly the size of the ruby throated hummers that also visit, but the moths pretty much ignore human presence, which allowed me to take several amazing photos like this:
I was even able to move a branch gently to get a better shot, the moth never even blinked, so to speak. The photo was actually taken last year, as I've been concentrating rather more on the hummingbirds this summer. And of course, the bush also attracts hummingbirds, who zip from blossom to blossom when they're bored with the nectar feeders. Sadly, it's difficult to get a good shot of a hummer at a butterfly bush, as they constantly zoom around, unable to perch, as at a feeder. So I waited until this male decided to go back to the feeder before I took my shot:
The butterfly bush: beautiful, fragrant, attractive to birds and other wildlife, and still blooming at the end of September! Who could ask for a better addition to a garden?
See you by the feeders (made by both man and Mother Nature),
Mrs. CapeCodAlan
Our butterfly bush is of the Black Knight variety, which produces deep purple blossoms with tiny orange centers. Each cluster contains hundreds if not thousands of blossoms. And the blossoms are amazingly fragrant, as of course, they would be, to attract the variety of butterflies and other winged creatures we see each summer, including monarchs, tiger swallowtails, cabbage butterflies, and the ubiquitous red admirals (vanessa atalanta), favorites of mine since childhood. I took this red admiral photo just last weekend, experimenting with the macro setting on my camera, and I'm pleased with the result.
I caught the tiger swallowtail a few weeks ago--he was looking a little ragged, but seemed grateful for the easy abundance of food.
Another regular visitor to the bush is the Hummingbird Moth (hemaris thysbe). This moth is nearly the size of the ruby throated hummers that also visit, but the moths pretty much ignore human presence, which allowed me to take several amazing photos like this:
I was even able to move a branch gently to get a better shot, the moth never even blinked, so to speak. The photo was actually taken last year, as I've been concentrating rather more on the hummingbirds this summer. And of course, the bush also attracts hummingbirds, who zip from blossom to blossom when they're bored with the nectar feeders. Sadly, it's difficult to get a good shot of a hummer at a butterfly bush, as they constantly zoom around, unable to perch, as at a feeder. So I waited until this male decided to go back to the feeder before I took my shot:
The butterfly bush: beautiful, fragrant, attractive to birds and other wildlife, and still blooming at the end of September! Who could ask for a better addition to a garden?
See you by the feeders (made by both man and Mother Nature),
Mrs. CapeCodAlan
Comments
You guys come up with such terrific ideas! Thanks for the butterfly one. I guess I'll have to get a Butterfly bush!
{Mrs CCA: Great idea... There are so many varieties that you can probably find one that fits your tastes...}
Posted by: Jo | September 29, 2007 1:06 PM
Hi,
can also recommend the butterfly bushes...
In our region they have flowers early spring and also in summer... so plenty of time for some nice butterfly pics... no humming birds available here so... and the butterfly bushes are really easy to take care for ;-)
Posted by: Monika | October 1, 2007 3:14 AM
The images are excellent!
Posted by: kathryn | October 1, 2007 6:55 PM