Genus: Rudbeckia

It is fascinating to learn a bit about North American butterflies

Ooooo, I love the Coral Bells in the back. And the grass! I also like the brick in behind. This bed is going to look amazing in a couple of years! Nice job!

I love these two plants.

Great color combination.

guinness is my boy!! he is the oldest and my buddy. he is named guinness because of the black and tan. wouldn't trade him for anything.

Roxy is a lovely girl. Will look forward to seeing Guinness. I like that name! I own a Whiskey & Tequila...Lol!!

her face... she is the youngest of our 2 german shephard doggies. the one in the photo is Roxy, the other ( i will have to put his picture up here also... his name is guinness. they are the best.

Hello & welcome Billyjoe! Who is your friend in your photo? I love his face.

How true that must be, Billjousc,
welcome to GoY.

Hear! Hear!

if there is a heaven, i think i just might be there in your yard.

Exactly. I think we're headed for either a change in diet, or very very high prices. Probably both.

no bees.... no crops......no food!

I think the parasite has been a problem for a long time here but I thought that was taken care of by adding something to the entrance of the hives that kills the parasite. Unless there's a new parasite now. I watched a program the other night about a certain insecticide that could causes memory loss in bees......the bees just can't find their way home. And that seems to be the big problem here. They're just gone. Not found dead by the hive, in the hive or anything like that. The man that runs the largest honey bee operation in the country is very worried about it. He lost a major part of his bees. He replaced them last year but he thinks he's already losing his new bees. He ships his hives all over to farmers and orchards, and without those bees, there will be no crop produced.

The parasite affecting honey bees is called Varroa, comes from Asia originally, it has been in the UK since about 1992. Unfortunately Defra were about 10 years too late in their attempts to treat the infestations.
I believe it is also in the US as well.

Will post some piccies when they are about. The only ones about at the mo are the Commas - Jacqui has some picture of those I think. Loss of habitat is definately one of the reasons, but the decline has been very dramatic, so I think there must be other factors. Re the bees, i've heard there is a parasite that is effecting bees - I wonder if that has reached the USA? Bee keepers here have been v worried about it here. I have built a bee box for my garden, but no takers as yet! :-D

I'm asked that a lot. A few of my pics have been published but there's so many professionals out there with wonderful pics.........I do this just for the fun of it anyway. I just found a site where you can make your own calendars with your own pics, so I'm going to do that and give them to family and friends as gifts.
Thanks Sid.

That's a shame. I hope they find the reason, same as I hope they figure out what's happening to all of the honey bees. I personally think it's insecticides. Maybe with butterflies it's loss of habitat too. I wish you much luck with your echinacea and hopefully it'll bring in the butters. I don't know a thing about British butterflies and would love to see some posted !

Have you ever thought to selling your pictures? I could see them as calender pictures or postcards or something. Or illustrating magazines or books on wildlife.

I'm growing lots of echinaceas this year - I hope they attract some British butterflys - alas they are very much in decline here and nobody seems to know why. I try to be tolerant of catapillars in my garden.

Thanks ! I like to be aware of what's going on in my garden. I have dozens of Field Guides !

Your photo's continue to amaze me.

Lovely picture, you certainly know all about butterfly and which is which.

Thanks Jim and Buzzbee.

Thank you Flcrazy. You should see them on a larger scale..........so much more detail than these little pics. For most of my pics I use a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ20. That's 5 mgp. I just point and shoot. Before that I used a Nikon 995 that I love for real close macro shots, but I hardly ever use that anymore. It's so slow compared to the Panasonic. That's only 3.34 mgp I still use the Nikon for my nightime moth photos though. But gosh, I think they have 10 mgp out now !

Great picture, love your arbor in the background. It really makes the pink echinaceas with the bright orange center, pop right off the picture.!

Amazing close-up. I can actually see the felt like texture of her black wings.! What type of camera do you use?

Another great picture ! Keep them coming !

Thanks ! I think that a lot of us are on the right track Buzzbee. Years ago I used to use pesticides. Not any longer and my garden is so much more full of life !
It shouldn't take too long for your Echinacea to spread. You're gonna love it ! I could sit for hours and just watch the butters fly in. All kinds !

We grew Echinacea purpurea for the first time this year - can't wait till they bulk up and look as good as yours - and to have a garden that is as friendly as yours to butterflies would be a good indication that we must be doing something right. Great pictures.

You always take such wonderful photos of butterflies, they seem to love you and being on you.

This is pretty spectacular - great sense of scale as well.

OMG id never have guessed it was Blackeyed Susan thats4sure!

Mother nature can do some strange things but yes this is very neat :)

Hi,

love this photo just perfect for painting.

Libby.

That is such a lovely colour - I shall be seeking it out for my Autumn border!