This lovely pink flower is much beloved by the pollinators of all types that visit our garden. But I have no idea what it is!!
In fact, at it's base, I have a sign which states "I don't remember planting this"! The very fact that it has taken hold and is thriving so well leads me to believe that it is, in fact, a weed.
If anyone knows what it is, I would really appreciate if you could let me know in the comments. here's another photo, showing the forming seed heads.
The bumblebees also love the Salvia Greggi., there are usually at least five of them bumbling from bloom to bloom at any given time. They make me smile.
Another visitor this week has been this Black Swallowtail on the Dallas Red Lantana (at least I think think it's a Black Swallowtail). I haven't had much luck getting a good photo of it's wings to ID it with. I tried again earlier today with no luck at all!
I have better luck taking photos of Gulf Fritillaries. They seem to like landing on blooms to eat, rather than fluttering around like the Swallowtails do. Makes the photos much easier. Here's one on the Violet Queen zinnia.
Here's another one enjoying the Profusion zinnia. You can also see the sign I mentioned earlier in the post.
I'm also seeing Monarch butterflies in the garden. This looks like a female, so it's not one of the ones I released a couple of days ago from my Monarch Nursery, which were both male.
Speaking of the Monarch Nursery, I still have 4 chrysalides in the enclosure in the bathroom. Here's a photo of some of the caterpillars before they changed.
And here's one who has left the milkweed and climbed to the top of the enclosure to make his chrysalis.
I'll probably get a lot more caterpillars and chrysalides later in the year, as the Monarchs prepare for their migration. Last year I had a total of 30. I'll see if I can match that this year :-) Wish me luck!
Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.
