Bees and Butterflies Still Busy in the Garden
According to the website Monarch Watch, the peak for Monarch Butterfly abundance in Chicago should be roughly during the first half of September.
However, in our garden the Monarchs seem to be on an expedited timetable. This year in July and August we would often see multiple Monarchs, as many as five at once. In September, though, there’s only been one at a time.
Regardless, I wish them safe travels on their migration to Mexico.
Today there was also a Painted Lady feeding on the Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia). Looks like she is sucking nectar through a straw. Tithonia continues to be our champion butterfly magnet.
Painted Ladies are migratory butterflies, just like the Monarchs. They too like to spend the winter in Mexico. Can’t say I blame them.
In our garden the butterflies like the Tithonia best of all the September blooms. They will also visit Buddleia and Joe Pye Weeds (Eutrochum maculatum).
Bees,on the other hand, are all over the Asters and the Goldenrods. Here’s a Honeybee on New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae angliae).
Another Honeybee. I took most of these photos rather than Judy, so they are a little fuzzy.
Here’s a Sweat Bee, see how its legs are coated in pollen?
Another Sweat Bee.
The bumblebees love the Asters, Goldenrods, AND the Tithonia. They are all over. I often find them sleeping on the Tithonia flowers.
What’s buzzing around your garden these days?
gardeninacity 
Gorgeous shots of blooms and pollinators–so great! I’ve seen one Monarch through my garden so far–an early one, I suppose. Send me the rest of yours!
They’re on their way!
My asters are covered in bumble bees. In past years I’ve had monarch butterflies on them, but not this year.
The Monarchs are really favoring the Tithonia this year. Buddleia comes a distant second, then asters.
Lucky you, having Monarchs. I still haven’t seen any for sure. Though I’d like to think I glimpsed a few, I wasn’t close enough to tell.
It’s really a joy to have them around. This afternoon the neighbors, including their 5 year old little girl, spent half an hour watching the Monarchs with me.
Lovely photos…I think we get Monarch butterflies here in Australia, and I’m pretty sure I used to watch them as a child living in Africa….well, if they like Mexico, they would love Africa! As far as bees go, we have a Chinese tallow tree in our garden, and the bees hum around it all summer long.
I am not familiar with the Chinese tallow tree, I’ll have to look that up.
Jason, wonderful post, lovely photographs too. We were supposed to have a mass migration of painted ladies into the UK this year from Europe, they are not natives here, and I haven’t seen one. Your garden us clearly a wildlife haven.
I think some people call them American ladies, though I’m not sure if painted ladies are the same species as American ladies, or if “American Ladies” just sounds more wholesome.
Earlier in the week I had 2 pairs of monarchs–they were literally in pairs– gorging on a rather large tall patch of New England Aster. But by Wednesday 1 pair had left, and the other pair had left by Thursday.
All of mine seem to be gone now!
PS I have tons of bumblebees on all the asters–and I have a lot of asters. Smooth Blue, Aromatic, and Heath, mixed in with Prairie Baby’s Breath, and in shade, Short’s Aster, White Snakeroot, and Elm-leaved Goldenrod.
I don’t have Heath or Smooth Blue Aster, I have the New England, Aromatic, Short’s, Big Leaf, Calico and Crooked Stem.
Lovely photos, Jason.
I am in Kansas City (Missouri) for a few days and visited the Kauffman Garden yesterday where there were more monarchs than you could count. It was a thrilling sight. They were like a fluttering cloud, feasting on the abundant plantings of Asclepias Currasavica and A Tuberosa “Hello Yellow”, both still in bloom. A worker there described the milkweed as “power bars” for them on their way to Mexico. The HQ of MonarchWatch.org is about 50 miles west at the U of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.
Didn’t know that MonarchWatch was based in Kansas. If I am ever in KC again I will have to check out the Kauffman Garden.
These photos are great! I bet you could get a job with Birds & Blooms.
That would be a fun job.
Well…I don’t have nearly as many things buzzing around here. 🙂 41 this morning and plants are dying back. Your in-house photographer has outdone herself with these shots. 🙂
Right, at that temperature you won’t see a lot of buzzing critters.
All of these creatures and more. There are still all sorts of wasps and flies that mimic. Fun to see.
Keeps the garden a fascinating place.
I’ve seen more butterflies during September than the other months of summer, maybe because it was so hot very little was flowering, most are the Swallowtail. I also have fennel for their caterpillars so they have nectar, they love Verbena bonarienis and the Zinnias.
I also grow fennel but I keep watching in vain for caterpillars
They aren’t easy to see and there are never very many, not like cabbage whites.
I used to see so many monarchs here on the coast of Maine, but for the last couple of years they have been scarce indeed.
They have been scarce here also, but there has been a little more common the last two years.
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Beautiful photos. Your garden is quite the hangout for pollinators. I noticed a monarch last weekend from a window, but it had disappeared before I could get outside with my camera. Usually see them in late October.
They seem to be gone for good from around here as of today.
We saw few Monarchs this summer but those we did see were on or near the Mexican sunflowers. Prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya) has been the star bumblebee magnet this September.
I don’t have any Liatris, for some reason it has not done well for me. Or maybe I haven’t done well for it.
So many flying friends I can’t possibly keep track of them all. Our main butterfly visitor is the tiger swallowtail. Tithonia is definitely an experiment worth repeating.
I love tiger swallowtails and I didn’t see a single one this year.
I was taking pictures of bees and butterflies on asters today too, but a clouded sulfur was the best I could do for butterflies. Still not a monarch in sight here, so I’m glad that you’re seeing some.
We’ve had a few monarchs visiting, but not as many as you’ve seen. We have had an abundance of different bees. Just the last couple of weeks we’ve also had some hummingbird moths. They’re fun to watch.
The hummingbird moths are wonderful. I haven’t seen any this year, though.
Our Clematis ternifloa has traveled far again along our fence (both east and west) and is now covered with white blossoms and BEES. Has attracted some monarchs as well.
Huh, I didn’t know Clematis could attract Monarchs.
Wonderful pics, I did enjoy them, the painted lady on the Mexican sunflower is terrific….and I love the sweat bees, I don’t think I’ve seen them before.xxx
Not sure if they are in Europe – pretty common here.