I can not help myself. Right now, there are so many beautiful butterflies in the garden that they are overwhelming me. Yellow Swallowtail, 2 kinds of black, some orange Monarchs, and a new one today – a Variegated Fritillary. We have lots of brown skippers and white cabbage moths too. They come right up and land on everything. They dance in groups and in pairs. It is like an amazing choreography of life – just for us. So, I had to take a short video with my silly smartphone to share with you, so that you might catch a glimpse of the incredible dance along with me. The butterflies entertain us for hours. We have planted for many years to maximize the butterflies and birds in the garden. The pool is surrounded by Buddleia, also known as ‘Butterfly Bush.’ We have a red, white, pink, light purple, and black night purple.
Our grove blooms all summer, so it is nonstop color and show. These deciduous shrubs are so easy to grow and always have a wonderful fragrance and a swarm of butterflies around them. The elongated flowers grow in clusters on arching branches that can get maybe 10 or 12 feet high (unless you cut them back – which is a good idea or they get leggy). I like the willow-like foliage that is a grayish green color and is pretty dense. The white Buddleia was here when we moved in (she must be at least 15 years old telling by her main stalk) and we have added 5 colors around her.
A new visitor today, just for you – Variegated Fritillary.
Make sure to tap this picture once with your pointer, so that you can get a close up and see his incredible colors. This is one of our Black Swallowtails.
Do you bring any interesting insects or creatures to your garden? Do you plant for anyone special (besides yourself and dogs and cats of course)? Yes, I do grow catnip.
Just another DogDaz morning at the zoo <3 
Genevieve Petrillo
September 5, 2012 at 10:28
I love butterflies. They’re delicious!
Love and licks,
Cupcake
dogdaz
September 5, 2012 at 10:33
Don’t they stick to the roof of your mouth? LOL
Misty Shores Chesapeakes
September 5, 2012 at 14:18
What beautiful photos and the video is wonderful, thank you so much for sharing
dogdaz
September 5, 2012 at 14:25
Thank you for watching. The butterflies are a real pleasure around here.
heretherebespiders
September 5, 2012 at 14:42
They are beautiful! I miss them. I believe there is something wrong over here, like with bees, that is killing off the butterflies. I rarely see any. I lived in NW Florida and we used to get a lot of Monarchs – as a kid I spent hours catching them and observing their fascinating long black tongues. And finding eggs on milkweed and hatching them, too!
dogdaz
September 5, 2012 at 15:53
Monarchs do migrate from North down the east coast to Florida. Maybe you need to plant something to see if some new ones will come.
heretherebespiders
September 5, 2012 at 17:21
I’ve loads of flowers in Ireland, but I only see bees. Glad to have them, though!
dogdaz
September 5, 2012 at 18:38
http://www.irishbutterflies.com/
Jessica
September 18, 2012 at 08:56
How neat! Do your doggies try to catch the butterflies? They are Taylor’s #1 distraction during walks…well, butterflies and squirrels!
dogdaz
September 18, 2012 at 10:02
Yes – they even try to eat bees.