Butterfly Delights

Why is it that when you return from a vacation, you feel as though you need another vacation? I've managed to unpack and put away the suitcases and do the laundry, but that is about all I've accomplished since coming home Tuesday night. I did download all 400-plus photos from our trip to Arizona, but with a busy weekend ahead, it will be awhile before I have time to edit and organize them all. But I did want to share one small part of our trip with you now.



Once again, I made my usual solitary pilgrimage to the Desert Botanical Gardens while in Phoenix. Each time I've visited the Gardens, I have seen something new, and this time was no exception. The Chihuly Exhibit was still showing, but this time the stunning works of glass were often surrounded by blooms rather than a sea of green cacti, succulents, and other natives. If you would like to see more of the Chihuly exhibit, you can read this post from my December trip. And the blooming perennials and cacti will have to wait until another time . . .



This time I wanted to make sure to visit an exhibit that wasn't open last December--the Marshall Butterfly Pavilion.






It isn't easy to capture a butterfly in photos, but even more difficult to show in a single photograph the experience of being surrounded by hundreds of butterflies. I tried several videos, and this was the best of the lot. But be forewarned that you might get a little dizzy at one point--the camerawoman was too excited to move slowly.



This delicate orange beauty is a Julia, Dryas iulia. I know this only because we were given a small guide for identifying the butterflies. The guide showed 16 different species, but a note on the back said that not all would be on exhibit at all times. I was disappointed in being able to see only four different species, but some may have been hiding from me. And the sheer number of these winged creatures flying was so entrancing that it hardly mattered how many different ones there were.




I think this is a Spicebush Swallowtail, although it might be a Pipevine Swallowtail. The Pipevine in the guide showed blue tones in the lower wings but not the orange dots seen here. I may have seen both varieties flitting about, but all my photos seem to resemble the Spicebush more.

I had no difficulty, though, in identifying this Zebra Longwing. What a striking butterfly! I've never seen anything like this in my garden at home.

This Southern White may not be as striking, but my photos also didn't do it justice in capturing its translucent beauty.

In several places in the small pavilion, butterfly feeding stations were set up. I learned last year that you should place shallow containers of water filled with small stones for a resting place for the butterflies throughout the garden. But I didn't know that butterflies also enjoyed orange slices. The Julias were especially attracted to them; if you look closely, you can see at least five of them in this photo.

Although they enjoyed the citrus and the water, the flowers, of course, were the

main attraction for them.

If there were any labels posted near the different flowers, I didn't notice them. I was too busy trying to focus my camera.

This year I am planning a small new garden area with the intention of planting primarily plants that will attract butterflies as well as hummingbirds and bees. I already have zinnia seeds and will hopefully have many new coneflower seedlings as well to plant here, both of which were butterfly magnets last year. But I also plan to add butterfly weed, parsley, agastache, nasturtiums, and cosmos, just to name a few.

I could have spent all my time at the Gardens in this one spot, but I didn't want to be selfish. The number of people allowed into the exhibit at one time was limited, and you could pass into the area only after someone else left. We were cautioned not to touch the butterflies, even if they landed on one of us. And before leaving through the heavy plastic slats that led into an outer room toward the exit, we had to stop for inspection by a guide to ensure that there were no winged hitchikers leaving with us.

While I marvelled at all the beauties around me and jostled to get into position for just the right camera shots, others took a simple delight in just watching these creatures fly about. Watching a butterfly for me is like being a child again--finding joy in the every day beauty of nature.

The butterfly has delighted man for ages, and it has become a symbol of rebirth and resurrection, a perfect image for this Easter weekend. I wish all of you . . .

A Happy and Blessed Easter!