After three years, my butterfly garden is finally doing something! My echinacea are blooming and I've finally been able to find some of the specialty plants I have been looking for (joe pye weed, pearly everlasting, asclepias). Now if only I could get some butterflies to come around, we'd be all set.
Butterfly gardening in the Northwest is definitely a far cry from San Diego. Pictured below are gulf frittilary caterpillars and monarchs who took up residence by the scores on passionvine and asclepias tuberosa in my California garden. I miss the butterflies, but I don't miss the water bill.
