American lady butterfly laying eggs

American Lady butterfly laying eggs on pussytoes

I'm not sure when we've first seen American Lady butterflies in the past, but it seemed early. Maybe that's just because it has been so rainy and cold following such a long, snowy winter that it's hard to believe it's actually May. At any rate, it was certainly encouraging to see life beginning anew!

It always amazes me to see butterflies finding their host plants. I have a few good patches of pussytoes (Antennaria), but even so, they're dwarfed by all the other plants in the yard. Still, the ladies find them, as they must.

We're still waiting for the dill to grow so the black swallowtail butterflies will have something to lay their eggs on. Of course, they could also lay their eggs on parsley, but they always seemed to prefer the dill. We also have some zizia, their native host plant, which is starting to grow.