Butterfly Bush Buddies

My two butterfly bushes are now in full bloom and threatening to take over my yard.  I was lazy this spring and didn't prune them and they are now taller than my house!  I did have to prune around my sidewalk because I kept having to move them out of the way in order to get to my mailbox.

I always love to see all the different 'visitors' that also thoroughly enjoy the deep purple blooms.  Of course, there are the butterflies - monarchs, red admirals, and both black and yellow swallowtails like this gorgeous beauty.

And they are beautiful, but I always look for the more unusual visitors.  Like the snowberry clearwing moth, also known as a hummingbird moth.

The clearwing doesn't have as many scales on its wings as other butterflies giving them a transparent look (as you can see in the second picture), hence its name.

And this little guy that visited last year - it looks some kind of moth, but it is unusual in the way its wings are folded.  All moths and butterflies have two sets of wings, but they normally are folded in such a way that it looks as though it's all one piece instead of two.

 

Do you see the two coming out at the side and the two sticking up in the air?  There's the occasional dragonfly.

And, of course, there are the bees.  I have smaller (maybe) honey bees?

But I love the big bumble bees.

There's the occasion butterfly chase - one butterfly chasing another, but there are plenty of blooms to go around.