Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Thankful Thursday

We are so thankful for the beautiful things in life, and one of the most beautiful are swallowtail butterflies.  Our coneflowers are full of them, both the yellow and black varieties.


Someone told the mom earlier this week her coneflowers were like a Disney movie.  That made the mom feel really good, especially knowing she has a "black thumb" and can kill plants quickly and in unique ways, like when she sprayed plants with "Deep Woods Off" to get rid of caterpillars only to watch all the plants die within 4 days.

There are 10 yellow swallowtails in this photo.
Biggify to see them all!

Left and below, male swallowtails.

There's a bumble bee next to the swallowtail and a grasshopper at the top of the photo.
 
Right and below, female swallowtails.

Most females of a species are drab compared to the males, but not these butterflies.  Its the females with the lovely blue iridescence on their hind wings.  

Other butterflies visit too, like the small yellow one in the upper right corner.
We'll see if we can't get photos of them too.
A photo of a male black swallowtail is something to strive for.
Maybe next week??

22 comments:

Angel Simba said...

Such wonderful photos and how fabulous for you to have so many of these gorgeous butterflies.

A few Good Cats said...

It was a delight and a treat to see so many butterflies in one place at one time.

Cats Herd You said...

How beautiful! The butterflies and the flowers both.

Your mom must have a black thumb like our head peep's. When she bought this house, the previous owner had a beautiful garden, and she has systematically killed everything that was in it since then. It gives us a better view of the cat TV, but she finds it embarrassing, for some reason.

meowmeowmans said...

OMC! The butterflies are so beautiful, and there are so many of them! We like the coneflowers, too. :)

haopee said...

Wow. Even the butterflies love the Disney coneflowers.

Nobody has a blackthumb...just an overzealous heavy handed green thumb. LOL

The Musings Of A Crazy Cat Lady said...

Hi Oui Oui. Your photos are breathtakingly beautiful.

Seville at Nerissa's Life said...

That butterfly sure is pretty. So are the flowers.

Purrs,
Nissy

Annie Bear said...

What a beautiful garden and flowers you have! You got some great pics of the butterflies. It's wonderful to be thankful for simple things like nature.

Summer at sparklecat.com said...

How beautiful! And it is too bad you kitties aren't allowed outside to explore - I hear they are tasty too!

Angel Prancer Pie said...

What a beautiful post! Thank you for sharing this gorgeous part of your yard with us!

Marg said...

Those butterflies are so pretty. They really like those flowers. And great pictures too. My cats would have been chasing all of them and having such a good time. Hope all of you have a great day.

The Furries of Whisppy said...

Wow. Your Mom is the butterfly whisperer! We wish we had more butterflies in our garden. They are so pretty and really make the garden come alive!

Brian's Home Blog said...

They are beautiful and so fun to watch!

Marilia said...

Butterflies are awesome!!
I love!

Pat Hatt said...

They are quite the sight, and fun to watch too.

da tabbies o trout towne said...

oui....total lee rockin pick sures ...we loves de colors on de gurls ;)
ewe did a grate job gettin ther photoz...yur mom is TAKIN credit ~~~ !!

Tama-Chan, Benny, Vidock, Violette, Ollie, Heloise, Momo, Ryu said...

Those swallowtails are absolutely magnificent! And so many of them! #1 says she has only ever seen one in our garden. But she has seen "scarce swallowtails" more than once and they are lovely too.

Purrs,
The Chans

Kitties Blue said...

OMC. These are incredible photos. We have not seen that many butterflies all in one place in years. Mom's had cone flowers in the yard at various times, but she never seems to get them to live more than a few years. She just bought two new ones to plant. Both we and she hope they thrive and we get all the activity you have. Just wonderful. Plus we learned something. We did not know how to tell the males from the females. Thanks for that info. Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

ANGEL ABBYGRACE said...

That is just nature's glory.

Kjelle Bus aka Charlie Rascal said...

Pawsome photos on all the beutiful Butterflies on your flowers !
XOXO

Cat and DOG Chat With Caren said...

oh my those photos are EXQUISITE! You are an amazing photographer to have been able to capture those butterflies so beautifully. Just gorgeous!

The Island Cats said...

Those flutterbys are so pretty! We haven't seen too many around here. They must all be at your house! ;)