A plant near the pond, this Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, opens its lavender petals for welcomed business.
Then a pollinator lands. Busy and beautiful, this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio glaucus, sips nectar from the blooms before moving on to other plants also offering sustenance.
One event in the longer story of a garden.
What’s your garden’s story? Linking today with Flutter and Hum and its Wednesday Vignette. Happy gardening!
My Gardener Says... 
I think I’d like to sit for a spell next to your pond.
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Whenever you’re in Austin…:)
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I saw my first tiger swallowtail on Monday! Seems early but at least in my yard, there is plenty of nectar.
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Yay for the swallowtail and for plenty of nectar!
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I haven’t seen a butterfly yet, but I saw my first garter snake today. Thin and stringy, it was stretched out on the side of the road at work. I wondered why in the world it had picked today to come out from its lair – it was both cold, windy, and rainy. It looked like it was wondering the same thing…
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I love little garter snakes! I knew you’d had lots of wet weather, I hope your snake didn’t regret its outdoor adventure.
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It did look a bit regretful. It just laid there, as if wondering why it ventured outside… LOL!
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I’ve seen a good number of swallowtails this spring, but unfortunately they were too fluttery for decent photos. That’s one advantage of your beautiful pond’s surrounding flowers; they slow those gorgeous creatures down just a bit — nectar for them, and pretty glimpses for us!
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It’s been so windy here this spring, good photos have been tough to achieve. I was actually just taking some shots of the garden in general and the cones in particular, when the swallowtail butterfly-bombed!
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Beautiful images; beautiful story. It’s a special time of year for all of us!
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Spring is pretty great–glad it’s showed up for you, Beth!
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Such wonderful plants. Mine are just beginning to flower but so far only a few butterfly sightings this year. Hope the swallowtails stop in here too.
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I’m sure you’ll get your share; you always have lots of pollinators, it seems.
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