The tigers have been a long time coming this year - the Eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies, that is. I have seen very few so far; even my neighbors' buttonbush failed to attract very many when it bloomed in June.
My summer phlox cultivar 'Jeana' (Phlox paniculata 'Jeana) is blooming now and a couple of females have been on it for days. I have written before about this especially floriferous cultivar (it has smaller flowers but more of them than the species). I also grow the Phlox paniculata species, so I have observed the differences first hand. Read my post (linked here) for the history of how this discovered sport came to be. Skeptical of cultivars? Read the native plant society's position on them here.
This month's #momentinnature celebrates these elegant butterflies and their return to my garden! Here's hoping that next year they'll come back a little sooner!
I have seen almost no butterflies this year in my Dekalb County yard, other than the odd cloudless sulpher or a single yellow swallowtail high in the canopy. Not sure why. Mostly I have only seen bees and wasps in my pollinator garden.
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