Jun. 21, 2008 - Lilacs and Butterflies
I am no gardener. I am the passerby who looks longingly at the beautiful gardens of others, but who can not grow anything herself, at least not outside. The flower bed in front of my house now sports three small juniper bushes. I put them in last year in desperation to make that front bed look good, after several years of failing to grow anything else in the west facing bed. Two of the junipers are still green.
It doesn’t help that we live in zone 1 – the coldest, most inhospitable climate this side of the treeline. The season is short and temperatures rarely rise above 25 degrees. Frost can occur in June and in August. I have been told that it can come in July too, but I have fortunately never witnessed that. Now, it is true that I am not very good with gardens in any climate, but I have done much better in places where the plants don’t have to be quite so hardy.
But one plant that has done reasonably well in my care, mainly because it requires minimal care, is the lilac bush outside my kitchen window. The lilac blossoms arrive early each June – about 6 weeks later than they bloomed in the land where I grew up.
Some years it doesn’t bloom as well as others. I discovered after the first year of bringing the blossom clusters in to enjoy inside, that if you cut the blossoms off new ones will not grow on that branch the following year. So for the next couple of years I did not cut any off and this year I once again have a lovely crop of lilacs! And foolish as this may be, I could not resist cutting some off to bring their wonderful scent into my home.
The other day as I sat on my deck, a large yellow butterfly, which a little research revealed to be a Tiger Swallowtail, alit on a cluster of lilac blossoms. Intent on drinking the sweet nectar, it was oblivious to our observation and photography. With a 10x zoom lens I was able to get some fantastic pictures of the beautiful insect, which I've shared below.
It is nice to know that the un-gardeners among us can enjoy the scents and sights of nature once in awhile!
If you look closely you can see the tongue reaching into the lilac blossom.
Comments
Jun. 22, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Jacqueline
Beautiful pictures! I love lilacs! I've attempted to grow a tree a number of times but Sheldon kept mowing it over! I finally gave up.
Jun. 24, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Beautiful photos! My lilacs haven't bloomed yet :-(
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Carla
Jun. 24, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by BritishColumbia
Your lilac is absolutely gorgeous! as are the butterflies to :) Ours aren't blooming here yet. I'm curious, how would you grow veggies in a zone 1? Do you use greenhouses and cold frames for most of it? I'm sure glad you haven't experienced frost in July :)
Blessings,
Rosina
Jun. 26, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by molytail
Lovely photos! I'm not very good with flowers (outside or inside) - heck, I've had cactuses (cacti?) keel over.
