I agree as well Melanie

A few from this very hot and humid day in Eastern Tennessee. Butterflies in the Lantana and Million Bells.

Gulf Fritillary




Long Tail Skipper. Look carefully and the blue- green irridescence is just visible.



What I believe to be a Sleepy Orange

Thanks for helping inflate my ego, everyone! As I mentioned in the first post this month, I didn't have any pictures because it had been raining so I did a little flashback for the main photo. And who doesn't love a Palamedes? I have a lot of staged photos from recently released butterflies but that was a wild one. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Dave, awesome pictures today! I do believe that is a Sleepy Orange. This is about the time of year they peak here in my area; not sure if that's true elsewhere.

I have some pictures but I'll have to download them later. Just woke up from my nap and I have to catch up on here, Facebook, email. It's amazing how much happens in just a few hours!

Sorry for this being a bit blurry but it does show the Long Tail Skipper's irridescence.

Great shots Dave! I have a few images from the past couple of weeks but haven't had time to post.

Fabulous shots Dave!

Margaret, we'll still be here when you do post them.
I got a couple today myself but time, time, time; sometimes time is hard to come by.

Well, the Polydamas that came out at 3:15 yesterday morning didn't zoom off too far when I released it at about 7:00 am. It just went over to the jatropha and settled down.



And it turns out Zebra Longwings make good guard butterflies. That one apparently kept the Polydamas off my native, Wooly Pipevine. But a Pipevine ST managed to sneak in and lay some eggs on the it! I'll still have to check the tropical pipevine today and gather everyone up to go to MOSI tomorrow.



By the way, I'm liking the Tiger ST in the banner today!

For a Monarch!

Lovely Pictures Ronnie

Josephine

Ronnie! I so envy your butterfly bush.

Thank Ann, BFB was one of the first things we planted when we moved in 13 years ago. Sometimes they are a battle keeping them cut back and pulling up the seedlings. We started out with 10 and are down to 7 in the yard. Lost a couple to storms.

They're on my list but haven't gotten any yet. Too hot to shop & too hot to plant anything right now. Have to wait till fall.

Just be careful with butterfly bushes. They are considered an invasive species in some areas. I think some of the cultivars are advertised as sterile so I would go for one of those if I simply had to have one.

If I had to do it over again Melanie I would choose differently for sure.

Ronnie, I think most gardeners have that feeling.

Yes, I know about the invasiveness & plan on getting the non invasive ones. But thanks for the reminder. If I hadn't known, I would be wiser now.

I have 'Miss Molly'. It hasn't been invasive at all.

Yeah, in a lot of areas it's really not a concern. My grandma's neighbor has a butterfly bush that she says freezes down every year and comes back but I haven't seen it spread anywhere. Don't know if it's a cultivar or not. But down in Florida, we don't get cold enough to kill a lot of plants back. Hence, we have a pretty big problem with invasives, probably more so as you go south.

Had a good day at the museum today and lots of interesting pictures. But first I must ingest massive amounts of water and lower my core body temperature. Then, I shall endeavor to undertake the arduous task of showering. Lukewarm water, of course. My car said it was 98 degrees on the drive home. And I believe it; it was so hot today. I had some visitors from Seattle and I told them even this native Floridian declared it was hot.

A Swallowtail


One of those skippers with the turquoise body



You can just see part of the body if you look closely