We had company in town for several days, so in preparation the family and I got the garden all cleaned up and presentable. It actually looks great, in my humble opinion, ha. But did I have time to get out there and enjoy it, camera in hand? Nope -- we were too busy with said company. However, I did sneak out and get these pictures of a Black Swallowtail butterfly, to complete the life cycle set.
We did take our company to a few local outdoor favorites, so I'll check the camera for any photo gems worthy of a post tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm ready for more butterflies!
Meredith, you're so lucky! I don't know if we get Swallowtail butterflies in Australia, but I've certainly never seen on in real life - how beautiful. Thank you for also putting up photographs of the caterpillars and pupa - I'm studying horticulture and one of my subjects is on identification of garden insects, so its really useful to see all three :-)
Beautiful! I've been lazy and haven't taken any butterfly photos--better hurry before it gets too hot. Your Lantana is pretty, too. Mine's just barely starting to bloom.
I've never seen a swallowtail butterfly before so your photos are a real treat, thanks!
Thanks, everyone. I'm not sure how we ended up with so many swallowtails this year compared to friends and nurseries I've talked to -- it's the first time we've had dill! But I'm not complaining! They are such fun, and I'll be growing dill for the caterpillars for years to come.