Wow, those are some good shots. I missed the humming bird in the last shot until I read your caption.

Beautiful pictures thank you

I have a few but dont know who they are. I too have been hard at work gardening for the last few days and luckily I dont go back to work until thursday so I still have time left for the flowers!

Gardens4love

Here is a link that might be useful: Slideshow WFIYG

ladybarber... those were great! someone here needs to id the white butterfly -- is it a blue of some sort? i looked in my reference books & on line, but couldn't find anything that matched the wings and the spots... thank you!

ahh....the 'white' butterfly: White Peacock. They like my yard, too...mostly fly low over these tiny little purple weeds in the 'lawn'!! Have had them for several years....really pretty butterfly!

I could use a hummer, or two, if anyone has some to spare..

Very Pretty indeed thank you for the id. Im still new to all this and am still planting for them..
Donna

Such beautiful pictures. I love gardening 'vicariously'.. I can almost imagine those visitors filling my yard... Thanks for sharing yours..

the pictures are beautiful, ill-mannered!! and the slide show was sooo pretty, too, lady-barber! I'm with you, butterflyy....pictures like these keep me inspired...

Great photos, Ill and ladybarber! And Beth, that's a stunning photo of the white peacock. Lady, I think your swallowtail is a spicebush, but I'm not an expert on swallowtails. Ill, I can't confirm yours because I find them so difficult from UNDER the wings. I can tell most of them from the top, but the dadblamed things don't cooperate when they land! The only swallowtail I can immediately confirm from the undersides is the palamedes which has a yellow line running parallel to its body that is diagnostic. The rest are hard from that angle. (Why didn't ya just SMACK 'EM FLAT for ID purposes????)

Today, I spotted both longtailed skippers and a silver-spot skipper on my indigo pea vine. It is a host plant for several species of skippers, so I was very happy to see them there. They were also nectaring from my porterweed. First time I've seen them this year.

Doncha just love 'em!

And Ill, what is that Rusellia? I'm not familiar with that, but it looks like a real winner to me! I NEEEEED that!

Marcia

marcia,
if i can get it rooted, you have dibs on one of the cuttings...

swallowtails are tough to photograph -- erratic movements, and they're skittish. but i have far more trouble getting the darn sulfurs.

funny -- yesterday i noticed skippers for the first time this season, too! they love my yellow zinnias...

Sensational photos everyone. I wish I could get my butterflys to stay still long enough so I can capture them. Thanks for the eye candy!!

cindee,
for me at least, it's getting ME to stay still long enough. when i feel the need to photograph, i wait until a bright (but not TOO bright) day, set my camera on the fastest possible speed, find a shady spot not too far from the action, and then... i stand as still as i can, point the camera, and just wait. my camera is actually a pretty old, but well-regarded, cheap camera (dimage z10). it has few bells and whistles, but one that i find absolutely essential is the ability to take bursts of photos at different f-stops -- it'll take one at 1000, another at 750, and another at 1250 (or other numbers, but you get the idea -- one stop below, one stop above). i'll often take 100 shots and only keep one or two. thank god i'm not using 35mm film!

and then i use a lot of post-production software...

*I* say thank god for post production software! Without my PaintShop Pro, I wouldn't have photos worth even looking at half the time. And YOU have the patience of a true photographer, Ill...I can just see you now, in your photography blind, snapping away. Hmmmm...in Africa, they build fake hippos and crocs to hide in. What do you use?
*me, picturing Ill hiding in a huge fake squirrel outfit, trying to blend in with the surroundings*

FORGET about taking pictures of sulphurs! It's all you can do to focus your EYEBALLS on them as they dash by, much less a camera! I've never yet been able to tell which sulphurs visit my yard, as I can't begin to see a single identifying marking on them. Just a bright yellow blur streaking by now and then.

And I'll trade ya a donkey's ears baby for that Rusellia, Ill. Yippeee!

Marcia

Beautiful pictures and slideshow! Thanks so much for sharing them. I had no trouble seeing the hummer but it took me a minute to see the green sweat bee.

Well now I started something I had to go out and see who if anything was fluttering around in the yard and my luck was that its too late in the day for most but I got a few more pictures for insparation..

I feel the need to go buy more butterfly plants..

O look closely at the first photo my little friend is hiding from me!

Great pics, ladybarber! And you even managed to capture a sulphur! That takes some doing! (Did you borrow Ill's squirrel suit?)

Marcia

hah! marica, this time of the year, i leave my squirrel costume in the shed, and i don my sedge costume... i am indistinguishable from my surroundings!

i use fireworks, b/c i got used to it when i worked as a web designer many years ago. but i agree -- photoshop is an excellent program.

i'm glad you, too, have had trouble & id'ing sulfurs... to add to all their other photographic faults, they are also highly territorial, which means anytime you have two in your garden, they're fighting some fierce butterfly battle, ascending into the sky in tight spirals of butterfly fury...

ladybarber -- great pics! thanks!

Here's a couple from my garden yesterday.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd316/wlsflowers/GardenSept4002.jpg

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd316/wlsflowers/GardenSept4003.jpg

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd316/wlsflowers/GardenSept4004.jpg

Wendy

Oops, let's try that again.

A SEDGE costume?? I love it!!!

Pretty gulf frit, Wendy! Love your coneflowers, too. I planted one or two when I first moved in, and every year I get a few volunteers. Nothing overwhelming, though. I've now got about 6 or so, and they are across the bed from where the first ones went in. I'm always happy to see them sprout up again each year. What a great cottage flower and butterfly magnet they are. And they smell really good, too.

Here's a couple pics of what was fluttering in my yard this morning. This first one is a quick piccie of a gulf fritillary on a tithonia. It wasn't such a fantastic picture, so I put some effects on it to make it look more "painterly," just for fun.

And here's a plain ol' photo of a cardinal that fluttered by, too. You can see Mark's bamboo behind him. We have some very tall clumping types along our fence. They have made a wonderful screen, and they are NOT hard to control, at all. (For those who were wondering).

Have a great Thor's Day, everyone!!

Marcia

Help me out guys, I went out to mist some of my new plants from the swap and I caught a glimpse of what looked like a Zebra Longwing, only it seemed bigger and more yellow and black than white and black. With all the new herbs and plants from the swap, I think the new guys are coming to investigate. The frittilaries are having a hey-day on my Incense vine, the fragrance is so strong! I did some searching on what I think I saw and couldn't really nail the species down. I'll keep watching for it to come back.

Could it have been a tiger swallowtail? They are yellow with black stripes, as opposed to black with yellow stripes, like the zebra. (Zebra longwings aren't really black & white, but rather black & yellow)

"Long black wings with distinctive thin yellow bands - combined with slow, graceful flight - characterize the zebra longwing (Heliconius charitonius). It has a wide range of habitats, including hardwood hammocks, thickets, and gardens. The zebra longwing is found throughout the state, although it is more common in south Florida, particularly in the Everglades National Park. In 1996 the state legislature designated the zebra longwing as the official state butterfly."

Here's a tiger swallowtail for comparison.

Marcia

cindee... it's also possible it was just a very large zebra longwing. they vary considerably in size -- from about an inch to twice that. i don't know if it's juveniles and mature, male/female, subspecial variation, or just natural variation.

saw a bunch of longtail skippers on my blue porterweed & zinnias today. glad to see them back.

These pictures are not very good, but this is the very first time I've ever seen this pretty! I have three others winged critters, but they were from August. :/

Ooooh, you got a little hairstreak, a gray hairstreak, I think. It's hard to tell for sure in this photo, as there are a couple that look fairly similar. Cute!!

Is that African Blue Basil it's on, Beth?

Marcia

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia, that 1st photo is it!! EXACTLY! I wanted to run after it, but as we all know, Cindee don't run. I am going to have to find what attracted it here. I have never seen this striped guy before here. I have had a few tiger swallowtails and only once or twice seen a Zebra (with white). This guy was a first for me and definitely the one you pictured above with the yellow stripe. Thanks so much.

Ill man and Bethie, thanks for your stunning photos too. Beth I love the lil orange patch on the guy you captured.

Thanks, Cin...love that lil orange patch, too! :) got to see two brand new butterflies this summer! (well..that i've never seen before!) Marcia...yep...that's African Blue Basil. VERY neat plant..someone at KSC gave it to spousal unit...was tiny, but in ground..oh my! It's happy! Do you know if it's edible?? sure smells WAY good.

Cindee, that first photo I posted is what a zebra longwing should look like. Sometimes the yellow is not as bright, but they really are not black and white at all. I'm wondering if you have been seeing ones that are slightly paler, or if you have been seeing zebra swallowtails, which ARE black and white. If the ones you normally see look just like the top one, except with paler stripes, then they are just "washed out" longwings. I have seen a few here and there where the yellow was paler...more of a cream...but it is supposed to be clear yellow.

I'm just mentioning this so you know that yours are probably ALL the same species, just some brighter than others. This might be my favorite garden butterfly, btw, and that's probably why it was named Florida's state butterfly. I think everyone loves them.

Marcia

Well, they're not fluttering yet, but I found these Black Swallowtail cats on my Rue this morning, munchin' away.
They also hit the Bronze Fennel in the background. Tasty stuff...

Thanks again Marcia, my friend for your input!

Musicman, that is one handsome looking fat cat! Beautiful photo.

I love all the pictures!

I am so excited! I saw 3 (times this week) a humming bird in my garden!!!! I have never seen a hummingbird in my garden. Hopefully he will tell all his friends and I will start seeing more.
So far the plants I have seen him visit-
pincess tibouchina, Limelight salvia and Celosia argentea var. spicata- 'Flamingo Feather'

I love all your pictures!! I tried standing in my garden to see if I could capture something, but it was so windy the only thing that perched was a dragonfly and when I looked at the picture I couldn't even see it. lol.

I'm putting the African blue basil on my wish list along with Ill's russelia rotundifolia. Sure hoping to get my butterfly garden going again this fall. This post was a surefire inspiration.

Ginny

Ginny, you know I'll try to root some for you! I'm not quite sure how to do it, but will 'do my homework' and try to find out. I could come help you with your garden after my son's wedding, too, by the way!

beth7happy,
african blue basil is the single easiest plant to root EVER. just stick it in water, or in soil. in a few days, it will root. add that to the fact that it's drought tolerant and beautiful and tasty and attractive to everything... and you wonder why you'd plant anything else!

Beth...your SON is getting married?? No Way Mama! What were you, 14 when he was born?? You are one rockin' ol' broad!

I was actually 12 when he was born. It's just that I look a lil old for my age!! Let's see...he's 30. that makes me um.......... XXX Ill-Mannered!!!! Thanks for that info! I'm going to go clip some right now!! it's an awesome plant! Didn't know if you could actually EAT it, but man..is sure SMELLS great!

Oh Beth, you are the sweetest. I would love to have a start of the A. blue basil if it roots like Ill says. Must be kin to the coleus.

Congrats on your son's upcoming wedding. I know it will be a little stressful for you in the meantime, but I'm sure your garden will be lovely when the big day arrives.

Ginny

I have a basil that was given to me, that looks the same, but I was told it was Thai basil. It is spicer then the Italian basil. Do you think they are the same or is the African blue differnt?

most thai basil i've ever seen was small-leaved, bright green with white blooms. the african blue basil is certainly edible, but it's very camphor-y so wouldn't be appropriate in, say, pesto or italian tomato sauce. it's great, tho, in any asian food.

hmmm, so maybe I have African blue basil. The flowers are blue/purple in color. I didn't use it much for cooking as it was stronge in flavor. I have kept it cause the bees love it. I think I'll plant some out of the veggie garden and in the beds in the other part of the garden.

I cut up the African blue basil for potato salad and lots of other stuff. It's good, though not as good as regular sweet basil. Thai basil is a whole different plant. Looks different, tastes different. Still a great one to grow, though. But my favorite basil of all is spicy globe basil. It makes the prettiest little globe shaped plants, bright green, small leaves, and it tastes great. A bit more peppery than regular sweet basil, but just as good.

Basil is my favorite herb! To grow and to eat. Katkin, even the leaves on African blue basil have a bluish cast to them. They aren't the bright green of Thai basil. If yours looks slighty "rusty" with a bluish cast, it would be the African blue, I think.

Marcia