Spicebush swallowtail is correct, and it looks like there are many fruit flies on the pumpkin flower.
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Yes, I didn’t notice them taking the picture, but there certainly are.
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I don’t recall what these plants were labeled as but there were several bees asleep on these various colored plants at a big box store over the weekend.
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Green orchid bee pollinating my cocona first thing in the morning.
(Guest appearance by the ants that roam the coconas despite it not have extrafloral nectaries or aphids to farm)
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Wow that is so cool thanks for sharing this picture!
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It’s also quite invasive in many places. I’ve been battling it by my river for the past 3 years and am hoping this is the final year I have any sizable population. It spreads super easily by seed and established roots are difficult to dig out. I’ve never seen any pollinators on it, although I try to keep it mowed down so it can’t flower or seed.
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I tried to take some pictures today but none gave justice to the magnificent showing of butterflies on my bull thistle. I have been spreading seed for the past few years on some areas that i will never mow again…and it has paid off. Also noticed some yellow finches perched and eating from the flower heads. A fantastic ‘weed’ to have if you are into gazing.
A video that backs up what i am seeing…
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Lots of baby monarch caterpillars about! It’s fun trying to find them. I’m always amazed the milkweed is so gross looking by now, but they just guzzle it all up and don’t care. In another week or two we will collect some for the kids school (elementary school has a big focus on monarchs!) and to watch grow inside here.
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Varigiated Fritillary more than likely.
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That’s it! Thank you! We have a large garden insect book, but it’s not sufficient. Is there a butterfly reference book you like?
Spelling is “Variegated”.
“Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Butterflies” is an old standard.
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Another butterfly (painted lady?) on blue mistflower while sneaking a break this morning. Happier sight than my devoured melons.
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Do you clip off the seed heads before the seeds fully ripen? I dig out bull thistle every time I encounter it growing (just because I don’t want that prickly plant to further propagate) but knowing how much the wildlife like it I would be willing to let it grow in a controlled fashion.
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There were several bumble bees working the stand of whatever rudbeckia these are growing alongside a local trail.
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Green headed coneflower. I have about 2 billion of them going… and im aggravated with about 1.99 billion of them… as i have scattered many other seeds in those areas but these take over.
But i am ok with nature choosing what it wants/needs and yes the bees enjoy them.
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I gave my neighbor about 10 tons of ditch dirt from a job i was working on. Two big piles. On those piles there must be 50 or so Bull Thistles and she is over the moon happy at the butterflies and bees that those mounds have given her. She was going to add it to a garden but has since fallen so in love with those ‘weeds’ that the mounds will never move again.
So long story short… probably just wait until fall when they are ready if the birds dont eat them all…and mix in with the worst dirt you can find… they seem to really love the struggle.
Mine are thriving in an area that is deeply in drought and terrible soil other than what leaves fall on it.
I saw a large stand of them last week over the bank of a guard rail that has nothing but road wash off and the soil looked so bad that the other weeds were struggling. Probably 100 or so Bull Thistles living their best life there.
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Just know it won’t come back like a perennial if you do they, they typically take two years to send up the flower stalk.
There’s a chance they come back a 3rd or 4th year but it’s rare
Anything that isn’t a spreading perennial is too much work in my book.
You can usually get really specific about your exact climate and soil and get just a few bulletproof very productive pollinator perennials
It’s best if they’re also a butterfly host plant but they don’t have to be
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