if I had a...

 

zinnia and friendly butterfly taken at upper canada village in late august



Last week at the local Eco fair, I attended a talk on butterfly gardens.  It was given by a couple who have a lovely 1.5 acre garden filled with different themes, wildflower, herbal, fragrance, zen and healing among others. And all their flowering plants are native and attract butterflies.  The talk was about different species of butterflies and their life cycles.  And the photos were amazing, especially those of  the Monarch.

I've spent the last few weeks tidying up my garden, digging out weeds and cutting back on over grown plants.  The hot dry weather this summer spurred on the weeds especially those deep tap roots, and was hard on some of my favourites.  However, now that the garden is going to rest for the winter, it gives me pause too to plan for spring.  And I think that some butterfly friendly plants are a nice theme to work on.  It will take some research though. The photo above is from the flowering gardens at upper Canada village. It was a glorious garden, a sweep of brightly coloured flowers buzzing with bees and butterflies.  I was drawn to the burst of colour. Then as I went closer to admire the flowers, the buzz of energy and life from the bees and butterflies was overwhelming.