Monday, June 23, 2008

Cone flowers and a Swallowtail

The Purple Cone flowers are in bloom.

The Black Swallowtail found them this afternoon.

I stopped weeding and watched.

I need to take breaks through out the day.

I need to spend time with the Swallowtails and the Cone flowers.

12 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

What lovely company you had to entertain you while you had a break.

Q said...

Dear Lisa,
A glass of water and a Swallowtail refreshes me every time!
I have cone flowers in a few spots around the yard. I would like to grow lots more so I could dry the leaves for winter tea. I always leave the seed heads for the Gold Finches. This year I may keep a few for my winter sowing. It would be nice to have plants to set out in the spring.
Sherry

Marvin said...

The butterflies (and other pollinators)do like echinacea. Great shots.

PAT said...

Enjoyed my visit this morning. Delightful, as always!

Pat

Deb said...

I can see why you stopped weeding :-} The black swallowtail is gorgeous.

Cheryl said...

Dear Sherry.....
Your beautiful butterflies must refresh your mind and soul. They are so uplifting, aren't they. Nature always touches the very heart of me.......

I have never been lucky with the coneflower....they last for one season and then just fade away......they do not like my garden, I think.

Q said...

Dear Marvin,
Thank goodness they do too! I have seen all sorts of bees and butterflies on the echinacea over the years. My doctor has encouraged me to grow some of my medicine. I am building my immune system up with echinacea teas. My cone flower bed is filling in as I am trying to gro enough to dry the leaves for winter use. Maybe next year I will have an enmass planting that will attract lots of butterflies at once!
I have white cone flowers but the purple ones are my favorite.
Sherry

Q said...

Dear Pat,
So hope the flooding did not cause you any troubles. I will pop over and see if you posted anything. I saw St. Charles had some water damage.
Sherry

Q said...

Dear Deb,
I do enjoy the butterflies!
I miss them every winter. Once I have flowers in bloom I enjoy just watching them nectar.
I planted more seed yesterday so hopefully I will have butterfly food in September!
Sherry

Q said...

Dear Cheryl,
The butterflies do keep my spirits up! As do the birds and the bees! I would be very sad without nature all around me. I often think moving to the country would be excellent. As it is I live in the city and escape to the wilds in my backyard!
The coneflower likes poor soil that drains very well. It is native in my area. It could be that it is too wet in Kent for echinacea to grow as a perennial.
My stands are very old. I just started a new area for medicine coneflowers...seeing the Black Swallowtail was very good medicine!
Sherry

meggie said...

That butterfly is so beautiful. I love the spots along it's body, it's perfect wings, so graceful. Wonderful to see it so clearly. thankyou.

Q said...

Dear Meggie,
As soon as the butterfly bush blooms I hope to see some other butterflies. My plants are about two weeks behind in bloom time. It has been wet and somewhat cool.
The Black Swallowtails are very beautiful!
Sherry