Swaths Of Purple Siberian Iris Within The Middle Meadow Garden Butterflies and Birds

Looking back over the month of June, iris sepals unfurl and fall creating waves of hues from lavender to deep purple . . . filling the Middle Meadow garden with hundreds of blooms lasting nearly three full weeks as new buds continue to open.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtails Papilio glaucus or Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Papilio canadensis add to the spectacle in complementary colors. On most days I count over twenty of these bright colored butterflies floating about the gardens and when they dip deep into the iris their wings become like sepals and petals.  

A wide angle lens makes everything seem smaller and farther away. 

Up close again a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird enjoys reaching in between the folds too.

Bluebird nestlings cry out above the iris from within their nest box. 

The parents are waiting for me to move on before taking their harvests to their young.

Silver-spotted Skipper feeding on Garden Heliotrope while a Spicebush Swallowtail dives into an iris.

I am guessing Eastern Tiger Swallowtail but whatever the name these creatures fill the gardens and fields in numbers during the month of June delighting in wildflowers, as well as, an array of blossoms from native and non native cultivated perennials and shrubberies. Swallowtails and other butterflies are eye candy for birds and it pains me to see their tattered wings as the days unfold. Such is life for those critters lower on the food chain.

Imagine these images with bright butterflies flitting about as birds splash and fly to and fro.

There seems to be a constant flurry of activity about the iris during the first three weeks in June.

A Spicebush Swallowtail Papilio troilus visits our gardens and this is my first sighting of this species here at Flower Hill Farm. I am not aware of the host plant Spicebush Lindera benzoin, growing on our land but perhaps a neighbor is cultivating it. I will be sure to add this native plant to our gardens soon.

Chartreuse leaves of native Thermopsis villosa offer a lovely contrast to the purple iris. 

A row of peonies falls down towards the display of iris. 

The weather was such that spring flowers all seem to come into bloom at once.

Purple from the folds of iris create a lovely backdrop for this Red-spotted Admiral as it sips the dreaded goutweed. 

Standing within the iris looking over towards a weeping cut-leaf Japanese Maple and beyond to the north garden where Rosa rugosa makes a show. More of the North Garden in mauves and pinks coming soon. "So long June!"

Flower Hill Farm Spring Butterflies ~ Part One

This year, early spring was dry and perfect for butterflies here in the fields and gardens. Of late we have had rain, rain and more rain that must be a great challenge for the survival of our exquisitely painted pollinators. Though butterflies are not the most efficient pollinators, they do aid in pollinating many of our wildflowers. Along with all the luscious blossoms of spring, butterflies add such joy to our lives.

This has been an amazing spring for Mourning Cloak Nymphalis antiopa, butterflies. Last year I did not see one here at Flower Hill Farm but this spring I sighted over eight before I capture my first image.  I have seen three more since these images and then yesterday found a very tattered and weak butterfly resting on a white iris. About fifteen sightings here in all . . . and that is only when I happen to be looking. 

The Mourning Cloak is the only butterfly that has been recorded flying through every month within Massachusetts. Since it overwinters in butterfly form, it can wake-up for awhile during warmer days. HOST PLANT - birches, poplars, American Elm, willows, hackberry and others.

A first of life sighting here on the second of May was an Eastern Pine Elfin Callophrys niphon, flitting about in the blueberry field. I am sure it has flown about the fields and gardens for years . . . only I did not notice due to it being so tiny and my being more impressed by the larger and bolder patterned butterflies. What a world of wonder I had missed for years. The first photo was too blurred to share. I had seen the first sighting right before I went out to North Truro for a week getaway, where I saw many more Eastern Pine Elfins. Upon returning home I did see the butterflies in the images above among the Lilacs and in the blueberry field. HOST PLANT - Pines, White Pine, Pitch Pine, Red Pine

Another first sighting for me here in May is this Eastern Comma Polygonia comma. You can see clearly the little white comma on its wing that helps to identify this butterfly. It overwinters here as a butterfly along with the Mourning Cloak and both may come out of hibernation for awhile during warmer days. You can see the tattered wing in the photograph above. Birds are very busy butterflying too.

This was my first ever sighting of an Eastern Comma seen in North Truro May 8, 2013 just days before I was able to find one at Flower Hill Farm. This photograph helps to illustrate what the butterfly looks like with wings fully opened. Another tattered gown . . . hard to be a butterfly. HOST PLANT- American Elm, Stinging Nettle, False Nettle, Wood Nettle, Hops.

Little Pearl Crescent Phyciodes tharos, live and breed in this habitat in large numbers. On any given day, except of late with all the rain, I see more than twenty or so flitting about in the fields of wildflowers.

I have come to really admire these bright and lively butterflies. HOST PLANT- Asters

Around mid May these Sulphurs began to show up among the wildflowers . . . the birds took notice too. 

It can be hard to determine a Orange Sulpher Colias eurytheme, (above) until the butterfly opens its wings revealing a bright yellow painting with bold orange spots . . . all darkly outlined.

Clouded Sulphur Colias philodice is finely outline in pink.  HOST PLANT - Vetches, Alfalfa, White Clover, sweet clovers, and legumes.

Black Swallowtails Papilio polyxenes and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Papilio glaucus, butterflies enjoy both garden blooms and the wilder ones out in the fields. HOST PLANT - Black Swallowtails - Carrot family. Tiger Swallowtails - Black Cherry, Magnolia, Beach plum, Chokeberry, Apples, Poplars and more.

I am allowing more of the grasses here at Flower Hill Farm to grow undisturbed and have paths mowed around large swaths. The Common Ringlet Coenonympha tullia, really appreciates my efforts and I have the delight of seeing their rich rusty orange wings, on most sunny days, as they fly about the gardens and fields.

Exquisite creatures, that may often be overlooked, thrive in our grassy areas. HOST PLANT - Grasses

American Copper Lycaena phlaeas, is now one of my all time favorite butterflies. This tiny butterfly is painted as beautifully as any larger butterfly and is plentiful here in our wildflower fields.

It is easy to fall in love with the teeny gem American Copper butterfly . . . especially when back lit by the sun. HOST PLANT - Sheep Sorrel and sometimes Curled Dock

Yet another first ever sighting this Hobomok Skipper Poanes hobomok, form Pocahontas, was enjoying our wildflowers on a sunny day in May. Thanks to Frank of the Massachusetts Butterfly Club for identifying this one for me. HOST PLANT - Various grasses

The very first sighting here of a Juvenal's Duskywing Erynnis juvenalis, sighted on the same day not far from the Skipper above. I had seen many of these butterflies while visiting the cape earlier in May.

The Duskywing butterflies may be duller than many butterflies but the intricate designs of their markings are quite stunning. It is interesting to observe these butterflies, as they are very territorial. HOST PLANT - Various Oaks

I nearly missed the Little Wood Satyr Megisto cymela, as it flew about the garden. We only met for the first time last year. I imagine we have co-existed for many years, I simply never noticed. HOST PLANT - Various grasses and sedges.

There are four first time sightings here at Flower Hill Farm in this group of May butterflies for this butterfly enthusiast. I am hoping that June will bring more first time discoveries and that I continue to grow as a butterfly steward enhancing the habitat to attract many more species of butterflies . . .  whether I notice them or not.  Now, I have thirty species of butterflies recorded as sharing this habitat with me. Hopefully that number will climb upwards by this butterfly seasons end.

Flower Hill Farm Butterflies of 2012 ~ American Lady and Painted Lady

 The American Lady, Vanessa virginiensis and Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui  add a twinkle to any bloom they land on. Though plants and their flowers have a unique beauty of their own, the animation butterflies add is pure magic . . . not to mention their importance as pollinators.

When seeing these brightly painted butterflies in the gardens, it can be hard to distinguish one from the other. Both American Lady and Painted Lady adults will go for a diverse range of nectar sources. Their appearances are more akin than their lifestyles which vary in caterpillar food choices, distribution and overwintering tendencies.

Painted Lady on Eupatorium purpureum commonly known as Joe-Pye weed. 

The Painted Lady is more worldly than the American Lady and can be found in most sun-drenched open habitats throughout the world. This slightly larger and more vibrant butterfly in its larva stage shares a taste for composites with the American Lady but also enjoys a variety of mallows and other plants. Pearly Everlasting is a favorite of both caterpillars. 

Wings fully opened, a Painted Lady reveals more clues to her identity, while the mysterious little beetle companion mirrors orange and white hues. 

The Painted Lady is a migrant butterfly not being able to overwinter here in New England, where the American Lady is hardier and hibernates as an adult butterfly or in a chrysalis stage. 

A discerning eye can pick out the signs that shout American Lady above, while Painted Lady below.

Painted Lady above and American Lady below.

Note the solid black dots along the bottom of both upper side hindwings in the Painted Lady, where as the American Lady dons marks more similar to eyespots on its upper hindwings. I find the tiny white dots on the orange of the forewings of the American Lady a helpful hint too. There are many other differences but once these clues are fixed in our memories they stand out clearly in defining the butterflies.

An American Lady nectaring on an Erigeron speciosus conveniently reveals the above mentioned marks, as well as, the important two large eyespots on her underside hindwing. The Painted Lady below wears four smaller eyespots on her underside hindwing. When the wings are folded this is a definitive telling in identifying these two ladies. The American Lady is also a bit smaller than the Painted Lady.

The American Lady has two larger eyespots while the Painted Lady sports four smaller eyespots on the underside of the hindwings. I will be looking for caterpillars of the American Lady on Edelweiss when I visit nurseries this spring and look forward to welcoming these two beauties back to Flower Hill Farm gardens and fields in the upcoming months.

Meanwhile back in real time . . . first day of spring time . . . March roars with winter's last grip.

Bob does not look too happy wearing his snow bib and wild white hair with snow cotton in his ears. 

He does not wish to hear anymore of winter now that the Spring Equinox is here.

Snow fell incessantly throughout the last day of winter. 

It is inspiring to have beautifully painted butterflies, sighted in last years gardens and fields, fluttering around in layers of memory within the mind, especially on a day when our calendars announce spring and all we New Englanders can see are landscapes that speak starkly-white winter wonderlands. Snow had nearly melted into a waking earth before the last eight inches of fresh stuff fell and even tiny snowdrops had pushed their green stems up, but, alas, they will have to go back to sleep for awhile yet. 

Happy Spring Equinox!