Butterfly Visitors

The prairie garden offers host plants for many butterfly species as well as nectar for the adult butterfly. The photo collage includes some of the visitors to my garden this summer. The upper left photo is a Question Mark Butterly (Polygonia interrogationis) nectaring on purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). The upper right is a Red Admiral Butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) also enjoying a purple coneflower. The black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) is on mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum). The lower right photo is the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) enjoying wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa). The center bottom photo is a Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly (Speyeria cybele) on a garden zinnia. And last but not least is the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on joe pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum).