Is it Butterfly Season?

I was in the garden earlier this week and my son came out to ask me a question.  Mid sentence he stopped what he came out to ask and instead blurted out "Is it butterfly season?".  Indeed butterfly season is upon us! There were swallowtail butterflies all over the garden this week.

They were dancing in the air and flitting from flower to flower.

 

My butterfly bush collection has increased over the years and I now have eight of them.  'Ellen's Blue' has become somewhat invasive and I am pulling a lot of seedlings out in the garden these days.  I have tried digging them up and giving them away, but they don't seem to transplant well at all.

Bumblebees where also buzzing along in large numbers this gray, drizzly week. 

On Thursday, I decided it was time to prune back the red bee balm.  I left three that were still flowering and when I looked up a few minutes later there was the first hummingbird of the season coming for a visit to the last of the red bee balm.  I thought to myself "Where were you two weeks ago when the bee balm was in full bloom?".  Now he will have to wait until the swamp hibiscus starts to bloom!