I must admit I do go out and take a quick walk round the garden most days - usually accompanied by a mug of coffee to check on any progress on things that need attention.. and this last week noticed that all the new growth on my 
Fennel plant was disappearing fast until I noticed this rather fantastic caterpillar... went and consulted my Collins guide to Butterflies and Moths only to discover that it was that of the Swallow Tail Butterfly - quite beautiful and I've only seen one in our garden this year.
Since the weather has been warming up this week I've been aware of more and more butterflies visiting our garden and thought I'd share a few pictures of these too. Favorite plants include the flowers of Oregano & Marjoram, and White Escallonia - definately worth including in your gardens if you're keen to attract butterflies yourself. There are other more obvious plants like Buddlea which is commonly known as the butterfly bush!
And to finish a couple of pictures of my sweet peas!
Hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend...
10 comments:
Hi Miranda....lovely post. The marbled white is beautiful, I have never seen one except in books.
What a beautiful caterpillar....and you will have some stunning butterflies in your garden....fingers crossed.
I told you the rabbits had eaten all my sweetpeas but one lonely plant has come up....I am so pleased....better than nothing at all.
Lovely pictures - and I like your "wigwam" for the sweet peas
Enjoy the rest of your weekend too
Karen
An Artists Garden
Hi Cheryl - sorry it's been so long since I visited your blog - am heading there now... Hope you've had a good weekend and very pleased for you that at least you have your one token Sweet Pea which will make it even more treasured than normal!
Hi Karen - thanks so much for your visit - glad you enjoyed the pics - the hazel wigwam was made out of the hazel I'd pruned back earlier on - using freshly cut branches to bend around the middle to support it! The birds have enjoyed it as a stopping place before arriving at the bird table!
Take care Miranda
I suppose it's worth sacrificing some fennel tops for such a beautiful creature to grow and transform itself. I do love those hazel wood towers you've made. I'm asking Paul to please cut some for me soon. You know, we've actually got four hazel trees in the garden. Two have grown immense this year, [not the one Paul slaughtered by mistake which is still recovering] and he's planning a pruning expedition soon that will produce quite a few switches for my purposes.
Ohh that caterpillar is just stunning nature is a beautiful thing; photographys not bad either;-) I can't get any butterflys to sit still long enough to take a photo grr!
Hi Nancy - I didn't mind losing a bit of my Fennel to have infact 4 of these caterpillars munching away - especially as I have so many baby fennel plants growing in the vicinity... they seem to self seed pretty easily! If you want a hand with making one or two supports out of your hazel - let me know! I'll try and pop in and see you sometime next week if you're around ... will give you a call!
Hi Kanisha - glad you liked the pics... and of course the photography... :-) Try growing some Oregano or even Mint ( they love the flowers) -planted in a sunny position they seem to stick around for ages! Look forward to seeing you on Tuesday!
Great photos of the caterpillars and butterflies in your garden. Don't you just love all the happenings in the secret life of a garden?
Connie - my huge apologies for not publshing your comment until now - one that managed to slip through the net! Glad you liked the pictures and yes I love all the secret goings on in the garden - the reason I try and walk round mine each day otherwise you can miss SO much! Hope all's well with you and that I'll get some time to visit your blog again v. soon... take care Miranda
I found you through Cheryl's blog, and I'm glad I did. Your butterflies are fabulous, and I so agree with you on eating fresh vegetables you've grown yourself.
Hi Kim -sorry I've taken a while to reply and welcome you to my blog - I don't seem to get a pile of spare time for this these days - but very glad you liked my blog - have infact just finished another posting!
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