As you know, my garden is full of plants that are “pollinator friendly”. But if you really want butterflies in your garden, all you really need are coneflowers.

Excepting the butterfly bush, there’s nothing else in my garden they seem to prefer more. And I’ve seen so many this year… Red Admirals, White Cabbages, American Ladies, Yellow Swallowtails, Sagebrush Swallowtails, and of course, Monarchs.

And though they’ve been plentiful, they’ve been darn hard to get photos of. Dave is beginning to question my sanity, because it seems like every hour or so, I’m scooping the camera off the couch, and bolting out the door whenever one goes winging through the yard.

Pretty much every time I came back in empty handed…. until last week…

Isn’t she a beauty!

And for extra credit…

A pretty red dragonfly

And a cuckoo wasp!

What a wonderful wild kingdom in my backyard