Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Marigolds Attract!


I'm growing a small patch of marigolds this year and it's a joy to see the butterflies,hoverflies, and even flies, always stopping by for a long and leisurely sipping session. Except for the swallowtail and the tiny psyche butterflies , I have had ample time to take my shots, staying close and clicking away to my heart's content. In this collage all the marigolds are from my garden. The picture of the rows of marigold on the bottom right is from a public garden. The insects are...commonly seen brown skippers, the Common Grass Yellow butterfly, the Peacock Pansy butterfly, the Common Mormon swallowtail, flies, a hoverfly, and two kinds of tiny lycaenid butterflies.
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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very pretty photos Kanak. John always enjoyed growing marigolds and would save the seeds each Autumn. I love seeing all the butterflies.

Cyren said...

Wow! I've been waiting for your next butterfly post in a long time :P and WOW I should really start planting these as well! Great job!

Randy Emmitt said...

Kanak,

Here in the US marigolds are considered poor butterfly attractors. I'm guessing you have no other flowers for them to nectar on when they go to the marigolds?

PS I would love to see the lower left image better it is really something.

Ginny Hartzler said...

What a great idea for a theme!!! Each of these is so good I don't have a favorite today. Here, Marigolds are planted sround crops and other plants because they are supposed to detract the bad insects that destroy plants. But I don't know about that after seeing this post. Maybe they only attract the good insects.

Ginny Hartzler said...

That crimson tailed dragobfly on your sidebar is astounding!!! How cme you never did a post on it?

Wendy said...

Marigolds make a garden sparkle! I love the yellow cheerfulness and plant lots in the spring. They last right up until the cool fall weather here in Canada.
Nice to see butterflies.
What on earth is that bug on your header? It's totally fascinating!
Hugs

Stephanie said...

Your collage is so delighting! Now I really know how lovely and bright flowers such as marigold is :-D

Autumn Belle said...

I love marigolds, the flower as well as the scent. You collage is very attractive. It makes me more eager to grow more marigolds in my garden!

Inger-M said...

That's a beautiful collection of yellows!