Was it a dream?

The cooler and dryer weather we enjoyed over the weekend seems like a dream now.  The high tomorrow is predicted to be 99 with a heat index even higher.  We've had almost no rain in weeks and none is predicted before the weekend.  

But the bees, butterflies, and zinnias don't seem to mind the heat - in fact, they love it.

The heat is almost too much for the rest of us, though.

Heat, ma'am! it was so dreadful here, that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones. ~Sydney Smith, Lady Holland's Memoir

Blooming and buzzing

No flowers, no bees;

No bees, no flowers.

Blooming and buzzing,

Buzzing and blooming;

Married and still in Love.

- Mike Garofalo

This week is the fourth annual National Pollinator Week, a week that "has grown to be an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles."  Did you know that bats and beetles are pollinators?  I didn't!  The Pollinator Partnership website has a wealth of information about pollinators, their importance to our ecosystem, and how to plant a friendly pollinator habitat, as well as information about how your region is celebrating National Pollinator Week.   You may be interested in entering some of your photographs in the photography contest.
Bees are plentiful in my garden - they buzz around me whenever I'm weeding and watering.  They especially love the Sunny Border Blue Speedwell.

But seeing a butterfly is much more exciting than seeing a bee!  This was the first Tiger Swallowtail to visit my Nanho Purple Butterfly Bush this year.  (Though I did see one on the Pagoda Dogwood at my family's lake property in May.  For those pictures click here. )

A painted lady paid a visit in May.

I hope more butterflies will be visiting and pollinating this summer - the thrill of seeing them never goes away!

Preparing for Butterflies

A post on Defining your Home, Garden and Travel  this week reminds us that the spring migration of the Monarch butterflies begins soon, and that by growing milkweed we can play a part in the growth of the Monarch population.
I am a huge fan of butterflies (see last summer's butterfly photos here).  Below is the first butterfly photo I took in my garden  - before I started blogging.

I've never grown milkweed or been visited by a Monarch.  I'm hoping to find some milkweed this Spring and give it a try.
In the past, I've had great success with swallowtails by growing fennel. (That's my grandson's finger - what a fun discovery that was for him!)

To learn more about butterflies,  I recommend the Stokes Butterfly Book.