Rain Garden Visitor

Rain Garden Visitor

We had a beautiful visitor yesterday as we were finishing up the signage on the rain garden.  Despite the drought conditions, our rain garden is surviving, thanks to a heavy, consistent downpour this past weekend and irrigation.  Although it seems odd to water a rain garden, the plants do need water despite what Mother Nature delivers or not. 

As we were finishing the sign, a coworker noticed a gorgeous winged visitor in the garden.  A Spicebush Swallowtail spent quite a bit of time in and out of the dianthus, partaking in the flowers' nectar.  When we chose the species to place in the rain garden, it was our hope to attract wildlife and birds/butterflies.  This visit was a great sign!

The dianthus is just brilliant today - no wonder it caught the attention of the swallowtail!

There are a lot of details in this closeup.  Not only has our friend been around a bit (see the missing parts of the wings?) but you can actually see the proboscis, or tongue, reaching into the flower for a meal.  Although butterfly wings feel soft and it may seem as if they are made of feathers, they are actually covered in setae, or scales. 

Both the above photo and the photo to the right show the tell-tale 'swallow's tail' that marks a swallowtail butterfly.  The bright blue and orange markings give away its spicebush name.