Jean Wirth

Thanks for the explanation. I’m never sure of the identification. I guess that explains why they move on. 😞

A black swallowtail butterfly with its white and orange dots along the edges of its wing and a blue dusting among the dots. Its black body is dotted with white. It’s getting nectar from the clustered pink flowers of an obedient plant. Green foliage throughout.

We’ve had a few black swallowtail butterflies this summer, but most often they do a brief flyover and move on. I wonder what they’re looking for. 🌱 #nativeplants #butterflies

The seed heads of parsley and purple coneflowers in the early morning sun.

They’ve lost their early summer beauty but still look glorious in the late summer, early morning sunshine. Parsley. Purple coneflower. 🌱 #nativeplants

😆 Last year, I waited a day too long to take a photo of a winterberry shrub covered in berries. Overnight, the deer came and ate all the berries along with a third of the plant.

Thank you, Margaret. Yes, some I planted from seed; but in this garden, most are from small plugs or they’ve now spread around on their own.

Our wild native plant garden with great blue lobelia, the yellow of black-eyed Susans, the pink of obedient plants, fading coneflowers with good seed heads, and lots of foliage from many more plants.

For some reason, the deer neglected to drop by to eat all of the great blue lobelia just before they start to flower. And also lobelia plants have spread hither and yon around the garden. 😃 🌱 #nativeplants

Exactly the feeling I had, Lance. Beautiful bird.

A Common Grackle standing on wood railing with the green foliage of a tree behind it.

Another Common Grackle getting ready to take off, one foot in the air, from the wood railing.

There’s something about these Common Grackles that looks like they’re birds from a museum display rather than the real thing. #birds

Beautiful!

A monarch butterfly on a black-eyed Susan in the foreground with lots of other black-eyed Susans fuzzily out of focus in the background. A bright yellow and orange scene.

There is still beauty in this world despite the daily distressing news. I’ve never seen a butterfly on the black-eyed Susans. 🌱 #nativeplants #butterflies

Beautiful!

A $10 bill found on our morning litter pickup walk.

Some days it pays to pick up litter on our morning walk. ☺️

Magical!

Yes they are, Catherine.

Yes, exactly. Thanks so much, James!

A monarch butterfly on a pink flower of an obedient plant in a garden with many other budding and blooming obedient plants.

There were two monarch butterflies in the garden at the same time; a first for us. We were so excited, a neighbor noticed and asked what was going on. 🌱 #nativeplants #butterflies #maryland

No kidding! Mine have practically taken over the entire garden.

Marshmallow plants, some with large white flowers and some with large pink flowers, edging a lake and reflecting in the water. Large oak trees are in the background.

Lovely marshmallow plants surrounding our community “lake.” #nativeplants

Sigh.

🤔 Well, they don’t all bloom at the same time, staggering a bit; so it’s hard to tell. But they all seem to be done now.

New York ironweed is on my list for next year. I tried seed once, without success; so I’ll try a few plugs this time. Thanks for the advice. I hope you’re doing well after your surgery.

A yellow and black swallowtail butterfly on a swamp milkweed plant that has a tiny blossom peaking out from behind the butterfly. Milkweed pods have formed and will spread seed puffs later this summer.

Why do my swamp milkweed plants stop blooming just as the butterflies arrive? 😞 🌱 #nativeplants #butterflies

Our garden with yellow flowers, both coneflowers and black-eyed Susans, with a few purple coneflowers and bee balm. Lots of green foliage.

The foreground has “orange” coneflower and the background has black-eyed Susan. Except that the coneflowers start blooming early and the Susans are just getting started, there is very little difference. 🌱 #nativeplants

Beautiful!

Its “eye” is very effective. This morning when I scrolled by the photos, my brain kept telling me that it was a bird. But where is the beak? Oh, it must be hiding behind its wing. 🙄

It’s not an old-fashioned large one, but we get a lot of pleasure sitting out there and watching the birds, bees, and hummingbirds. And saying hello to neighbors. At least we did until it turned hot and humid.

I’ve never seen one. Lucky you!

I forgot to say that we first mowed the area we wanted to do very short, then put down the paper, watered it well, then the shredded leaves.

Our yard was like that when we moved in 4 years ago. In fall, we put down newspaper layers, followed by shredded leaves. In spring, we planted plugs of native plant that aren’t fussy. It worked really well, and we now have lots of wildlife.

I’m hoping they’ll organize themselves. 😁