As I write this, we are in the middle of a nice, long downpour.  It's so nice to have the temperatures down in the 60's and spend a day of catching up at home while it pours outside.  We need this rain desperately!  Two days ago, Janet Albrecht, my friend and gardener, did the first stage of installation of my butterfly garden. We have been planning and working toward this all summer.  More plants will be added next spring.  As of now I have a beautiful selection of colors of butterfly bushes, two kinds of phlox, liatris, aster, purple coneflower and most important, several varieties of milkweed (incarnata and tuberosa).  We have seen very few butterflies in our gardens in the yard this summer, which has been puzzling, but as Janet was busy planting, several monarchs showed up to check out the flowers, especially the milkweed. Below is a picture of a monarch enjoying the milkweed.  She circled around the garden several times and always came back to the milkweed.  So exciting to watch.  I'll be checking that milkweed for eggs over the coming weeks! 

Monarch