Afternoon Delight

Day 212
The Daily DuBrule

I came home from work yesterday afternoon ready to drop. I had been all over the place, to three garden sites as well as doing a stint in the office cranking out estimates and designs. Fall is a busy time. As I walked out of the garage, my yard smelled oh so sweet. Ah, the Cimicifuga ramosa 'Atropurpurea' I thought. Then I rounded the corner and realized it was my Heptacodium tree in full bloom. It was covered, top to bottom, with honeybees, bumblebees, and more monarch butterflies than I could count. The tree was practically humming.

Honeybees love my Heptacodium

I quickly deposited my briefcase in the house and grabbed my camera. Of course, since I don't have a telephoto lense, I wasn't able to completely capture the magnificence of this site.

The monarchs have been quite amazing this week. At Natureworks, they have been everywhere, especially on the Echinaceas. I work very hard to have lots of native asters and other plants in my yard to attract the monarchs when they gather up to migrate. Heptacodium is not a native tree, but it seemed to be the nectar source of choice yesterday afternoon. 

Eventually, I joined the cat lounging on the deck and sat in the sun and simply watched the show. She stretched and I smiled. What a delightful way to end the day. Could these be the babies that fed on my butterfly weed last month? I will never know. But it sure feels like I am being rewarded by the monarch butterflies I've taken so much care to encourage in my little patch of paradise.