Eastern Black Swallowtail on Magnus Echinacea
One of my greatest garden joys on warm sunny days is watching and photographing the pollinators as they frolic, mate and scavenge in the garden. Many are battling steep population declines nationwide, yet the most familiar still manage to make a showing every July and August – for now.
Regardless of status, I find their collective presence reassuring even as I know so many remain in peril. We can only hope they continue to hang on, often quite literally.
A skipper, perhaps a Juba.
Planting milkweed and other natives at home helps, but a few plants in private gardens aren’t enough. We need to incentivize nonprofits, local, state and federal entities to sow more pollinator food sources in vacant lots, fields and roadside medial strips to reach critical mass.
Small Gems
Here are some photos I took of the smaller butterflies. We seldom take time to really observe them, but most are just as beautiful as their bigger cousins. Who knew cabbage whites have pale blue fur and blue eyes? (To aid in identification, I consulted the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Butterflies, university agriculture and horticulture websites, and InsectIdentification.org.)
Summer Azure 
Silver-spotted Skipper 
Cabbage White 
Cabbage Whites mating 
Clouded Sulphur
Large Butterflies
A yellow tiger swallowtail sips from echinacea Glowing Dream, a good choice for attracting pollinators. Tigers are usually plentiful here. Their eggs hatch fine, but the instars get eaten by birds or die before they have a chance to form a chrysalis. I did see a fat swallowtail caterpillar on my lovage this year, but it soon disappeared without trace.
A black tiger swallowtail visits echinacea purpurea Magnus, also an excellent pollinator cultivar.
Monarchs need no introduction. I consider myself lucky to have them, thanks to several milkweeds and other natives I planted.
Monarch on agastache
Common roadside milkweed is difficult to contain on a small suburban plot, as it can spread aggressively. And they can look ragged. But if you have the space, do plant it. Monarchs in our area seem to prefer it over other milkweeds, and the flowers have a lovely fragrance that fills the garden. They will most certainly lay eggs on it.
So far, at least five monarchs have gone full cycle from egg to butterfly in my garden, and I’ve been lucky enough to witness one chrysalis emergence. My plot is too small to support very many. But I enjoy them at every lifestage nevertheless.
Other Pollinators
It’s been fun identifying the various bees and wasps as they forage. The uncommon Golden Northern bumblebee is so fuzzy I want to pet it. On the rear leg of the Eastern bumblebee below, you’ll see a gold oval on her hindleg. That’s a full “pollen basket”.
Golden Northern 
American bumblebee 
Carpenter bee 
Common Eastern bumblebee
Below: a duskywing skipper at an aster; a mud dauber on angelica gigas; a clearwing hawkmoth or hummingbird moth; a honeybee busily excavating a magnolia. I had no idea they did that!
Duskywing skipper 
Mud dauber 
Clearwing hawkmoth 
Honeybee
Rarities
Finally, a seldom-seen butterfly in our neighborhood is the Red-spotted Purple (which is neither purple nor red-spotted). I just happened to be at the right place to catch this beauty. Its coloration resembles the poisonous pipevine swallowtail, which it copies for borrowed protection much like a viceroy mimics the monarch. What a treat to see this one up close!
Red-spotted purple 
Red-spotted purple
All of these photos were taken in a single season, proving that even a small garden can support a broad diversity of insect life. I very much enjoy discovering them and their secret worlds. I hope you’re inspired to keep a close eye out for your winged visitors, too.
