We all know butterflies can fly. And flit. And float, and flutter. Sometimes they even dart. But have you ever thought of them skipping? Well, someone did! Introducing the nimble-footed Silver-spotted Skipper!

My butterflies hatched! Well, technically that’s not true. My butterflies emerged from their chrysalises! In the insect world this is called eclosure. Caterpillars hatch from eggs, and butterflies enclose from chrysalises. And my butterflies have eclosed!

A flash of gold… A quick flutter followed by erratic flight then another flash of gold… Did it finally land? Did I lose it? All I see are dead leaves… Ah-ha! There it is pretending to be the dead leaf it is sitting on. And it stayed still long enough to get a picture!

This is why we need to be careful when we’re out cleaning the yard – You never know what you’ll uncover when you turn over a moss-covered rock! While this small little brown blob may not look like much now, come spring or summer, it will turn into the most lovely little blue butterfly. If you have enough of them living in your yard, it might actually look like a Disney fairytale scene :)

Pretty, right? Surely no harm could come from such lovely looking butterflies…. Right? Wrong. So wrong. Looks can be very deceiving. These butterflies are definitely bad news in the garden.

I love parsley. Usually I try to plant a few parsley plants every year, but generally it ends up being no more than a handful of plants. This year, I managed to overwinter one single mature plant and have a few additional tiny seedlings. Despite only having one properly sized plant that could even possibly support something eating it - she found it. The Black Swallowtail found it again.

We’ve all heard the saying “lets talk about the birds and the bees”, right? Normally I love to talk about the bees (some of my absolute favorite critters), but what about the butterflies? Don’t the butterflies get any loving? Well yes, according to the photo I managed to snap, apparently they do!