Flutterbys and Mirths in the Garden ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.  ~Rabindranath Tagore

oh Flutterby Butterfly ~~~ you delicate, darting, jewel coloured darling ~~~ settling, flitting and flighting, darting, settling, flitting away again ~~~ fly away, fly back, and away again ~~~ busy, busy, busy, butterfly, flying all around the garden ~~~ alight on my arm for a single, magical moment, and away again to the flowers to drink nectar rich ~~~ fairies in my Garden ~~~

One of the things that brings much joy in the Garden is the presence of butterflies, for their fleeting lives are full of beauty, colour, and the urgency to feed and lay their clutches of eggs to ensure the next generation is established ~~~ of course, the eggs hatch into caterpillars and that, sadly, means competition for the food and flowers ~~~

The delicate beauty of the wings, stunning iridescent jewel colours, soft velvety textures, and mosaic patterns leave me in awe at the magical essence of a butterfly.

Aside from being beautiful, butterflies perform an invaluable job in the garden too, for as they feed so they carry pollen on their hairy wings and bodies, so pollinating the plants to make fruits and help to ensure the next generation of plants is nudged on its way for next season ~~~

"To a Butterfly" by William Wordsworth, 

I've watched you now a full half-hour;

Self-poised upon that yellow flower

And, little Butterfly!  Indeed

I know not if you sleep or feed.

How motionless! - not frozen seas

More motionless! and then

What joy awaits you, when the breeze

Hath found you out among the trees,

And calls you forth again!

Here are a few that graced the garden with their presence just this week ~~~ I will do my best to identify them, but I am no expert so please, do not quote me!

Green Veined White Butterfly on Marjoram

Green Veined White Butterfly on Marjoram

A majestic Tortoiseshell ~~~

Montage of Tortoiseshell  Butterfly

Close up showing pollen coating hairs on butterfly

Tortoiseshell Wing Detail

There can be no doubting why the Buddleia is also nicknamed the Butterfly Bush ~~~

This simple and innocent looking butterfly will, in caterpillar form, decimate your cabbages in a trice! 

Small White {a gardener's nemesis}

Oh, I do not think this is a Common Blue at all! That is a very noble, indeed a quite uncommon shade of blue ~~~ don't you think?

Blue-Butterfly Day - Poem by Robert Frost 

It is blue-butterfly day here in spring,
And with these sky-flakes down in flurry on flurry
There is more unmixed color on the wing
Than flowers will show for days unless they hurry. 

But these are flowers that fly and all but sing:
And now from having ridden out desire
They lie closed over in the wind and cling
Where wheels have freshly sliced the April mire. 

Common Blue on Mint Flowers

Montage of the Common Blue Butterfly

Here is the darker, but equally as stunning Wood Skipper in a country lane near the Cottage ~~~

Wood Skipper

A brightly coloured male Orange Tipped Butterfly alights on an Osteospermum ~~~

Butterfly Laughter - Poem by Katherine Mansfield

In the middle of our porridge plates
There was a blue butterfly painted
And each morning we tried who should reach the
butterfly first.
Then the Grandmother said: "Do not eat the poor
butterfly."
That made us laugh.
Always she said it and always it started us laughing.
It seemed such a sweet little joke.
I was certain that one fine morning
The butterfly would fly out of our plates,
Laughing the teeniest laugh in the world,
And perch on the Grandmother's lap. 

These three are of a Gatekeeper, also know as a Hedge Brown ~~~

Close up with wing detail

Then come the Mirths {moths} ~~~ that is just me being silly with words again ~~~ but moths do bring much mirth I think, almost as much in their own late at night way as the flutterbys bring in the day ~~~

Moths are not easy to identify and to the best of my knowledge this beautiful white one with a fluffy collar looking most regal is a Muslin Moth {but equally could be a Brown Tail or a White Ermine ~~~ I am no expert!  It was a very rainy day and the flashing was quite splashed but I spotted him against the white board, despite his camouflage ~~~

My best guess at the identity of this rather regal, ermine~necked beauty is a White Ermine moth, which seems rather appropriate looking at its neck ~~~

The ghostly, and spookily scary White Feather Moth ~~~

Can you spot this one? I could barely see it in amongst the berries, but spot it I did ~~~ possibly a Silver Y?

The caterpillar of the Mullein Moth ~~~

A voracious devourer of any leaf from the Mullein plants ~~~ but what a beauty it is ~~~

I have absolutely  no idea what this is, but it was barely visible against the wall ~~~

Another mystery moth ~~~

The next two images are of butterfly eggs ~~~ well hidden on the undersides of leaves ~~~ but see how different the two are?

This scary beast is the caterpillar of the Elephant Hawkmoth ~~~

and finally, butterflies do love to bask in the sun, on a warm wall or leaf ~~~

Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.~Hans Christian Andersen

Until next time
Sincerely yours
Deborah