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Thursday, March 15, 2012

B is for Butterfly


Butterflies are certainly amongst the most beautiful creatures that visit my garden. 


Unlike bees, their playful flight amongst the flowers does not seem as focused or purposeful. Watching them flit back and forth, it is hard to imagine that they can actually attain a flight speed of up to 12 mph. 

It is equally impressive to know that the monarch butterfly visiting this hydrangea in my front garden completes a long journey of 2000 miles during its annual migration between Canada and Mexico.



Butterflies lift themselves with the use of strong muscles in their thorax that forces their decorative wings up and down. I love watching the air carry them like a kite or hang glider.



This past summer we visited the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory. The conservatory is a tropical paradise; home to dozens of species of colorful, free-flying butterflies.



It is the most magical place to spend an afternoon. 

The butterflies are all around you; in the air, sipping nectar from the flowers and visiting plates of fruit that have been scattered for them throughout the conservatory.






The species of  butterflies that visit my own garden are much more limited. I find that they tend to appear in the garden in the late summer and early fall.


They flit amongst the phlox, bee balm, sedum 'Martona' and this red Pincushion flower, 'Scabiosa'. 


And as you can see, they especially love the Pee Gee Hydrangea 
and pink Echinacea in the front garden.



More Information and Links:



Did you know that butterflies can see red, green and yellow?
That representations of butterflies are seen in 3,500 year old Egyptian tombs at Thebes? 
And that Antarctica is the only continent that does not have any butterflies? 
Find more fun facts about Butterflies: Fun Butterfly facts.

21 comments:

  1. Lovely to see your butterfly's. Overhere we have only a few different species. And also here they arrive late summer. I love to see them they are just like little angels.
    Have a nice day
    Marijke

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  2. Gorgeous butterflies, no kind I'd find here! :-)

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  3. Love 'em! AND ladybugs AND dragonflies :)

    xox

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  4. Beautiful butterflies and amazing photos ! I would love to spend some hours there ...

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  5. Your butterfliepictures are really great. They are such beautiful animals but not easy to capture in a photo. Well done.

    Åsa

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  6. What lovely photos! Butterflies are always so soft & gentle and an intricate part of any garden. I love watching them on a hot sunny day.

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  7. You have quite an impressive variety of butterflies. Love them with the hydrangea. It amazes me, too, that something so delicate can travel so many miles. They must be tougher than they look!

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  8. Hi Jennifer girl !
    This weather is such a tease .. I am not sure I trust it ! and then ... there is our raccoon problem .. yes, once again we have an unwanted boarder up there .. we have the company working on it .. 2 one way doors are now installed .. they (the company) were in the attic to install it .. saw the BIG girl and with our luck she is either very pregnant or has had her kits .. can you believe our luck ? This time they are going to thoroughly clean anything left by this one and spray with a suppressant to kill any scent of raccoon there .. why they didn't the second time is beyond us.
    But .. yes I love this weather and I am going to get in the garden again and have some garden stress busting therapy !!! I SO NEED IT !!
    No .. I won't be able to make it the the Blooms show .. just too many things going on here .. I'm stretched to the limit , I think I may snap actually .. you might hear me screaming from here ? LOL
    If you have a chance to go .. have a blast girl !
    I love all these butterfly pictures : ) I love them to bits but not many visit my garden .. I do have my Black Swallowtail cocoon in the fridge still .. I have to ask bloggers when to start to warm him up and hope he will transform ?
    Joy

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  9. hermosas imágenes y me encantaron los datos curiosos sobre las mariposas!!!.(es que soy curiosa y siempre me gusta aprender cosas nuevas).Un abrazo!

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  10. Fantastic photos of really beautiful butterflies, how wonderful to be able to see them at this time of year in the Niagra Park Conservatory. I believe that the RHS garden at Wisley has the same in one of their glasshouses at this time of year. Will have to wait a bit before we see them in gardens over here, but we do have a good variety of species in the summer.

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  11. Jennifer, your butterfly pictures are amazing (as always). You have done such great photos. Love butterflies, they are such amazing little creatures. Hope you come by and visit my blog --while it isn't a butterfly, it is a giant moth.

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  12. Stunning butterfly captures! I dare say those butterflies have better thorax muscles than I do! We have a similar butterfly conservatory in Georgia and we enjoy our visits there to see all the tropical species. They are really very intriguing.

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  13. I love the butterfly pictures! It is really neat to see signs of spring!

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  14. Beautiful photos. How fun to walk through gardens looking for and photographing these beautiful butterflies.

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  15. Absolutely beautiful images of the butterflies! Thank you for sharing them.

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  16. I am a lover of butterflies, too, and your images are simply beautiful, Jennifer! Do you know what the green one with the blue "stripe" in the middle photo is? I've never seen anything like it before. Butterfly conservatories are such magical places to visit, but I agree in my garden it's always the echinaceas they love. If this warm weather holds up, I may even be seeing butterflies here soon!

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  17. Beautiful pictures and so many wonderful colours and patterns on their wings. I've never noticed these beauties on my hydrangea. I might have to start watching that shrub a little more closely in future.

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  18. Wspaniałe zdjęcia cudownych motyli. Byłam też w takim cudownym miejscu, tam motyle nawet na ludzi siadały.Pozdrawiam.*** Great pictures of wonderful butterflies. I was also in such a wonderful place, where even a butterfly perched on people. Yours.

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  19. Hi Jennifer, B is for Beautiful! I can hardly wait until you get to D for Dragonflies... Great photos.

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  20. So many beautiful butterflies. Certainly must be a wonderful place to visit.

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  21. Great shots, the more colourful ones arrive here in late Summer also, not that many different species though.

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