I Plant the Zinnias and the Tiger Swallowtail Feeds | Eastern North Carolina Now

    We have a codependent relationship - the Tiger Swallowtail butterfly and myself. I Plant the Zinnias and the butterflies feed, which allows me the opportunity to attempt to take photos of one of the more beautiful creatures of our Southeastern wild places, and my front yard here in Mac'swood is certainly a wild place. I made it that way as a willing steward to do so.

    I have undertaken great pains to condition much of my soil to plant wild things: bushes, trees, vegetables, herbs and flowers. Each year now for two mere years, I have planted zinnias, saving the seeds when the flowers are spent and the dried brown pod is all that is left. Last year, I saved quite a bit of seed, but I planted them too early and then there was the great drought of 2019, so my production was down, but still a little more than last year. Next year there will hopefully be more seeds, more zinnias and more butterflies.

The Tiger Swallowtail butterfly lives a two directive life much of its day; fly and feed: Above. While desperately consuming the nectar, I am able to use the light to get a favorite of this star butterfly model: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage     Click image to enlarge.
    While zinnias may be a food favorite for all the different varieties of blossoming flowers under my care, I have also found that butterflies enjoy the nectar of many other flowers in my garden of a yard: spearmint, crepe myrtles, and chaste when blooming.
The Tiger Swallowtail butterfly hunches down to get more food from the nectar: Above and below.     photos by Stan Deatherage     Click image to enlarge.


    I enjoy my garden of a yard ... almost as much as my butterfly friends. Even though I endeavor to grow vegetables, they get more food out of my yard than I do.


Look at this wily creature, a Pipevine Swallowtail, hiding behind my zinnias' hill as the sun is sinking lower in the sky. This one was a bit skittish and I did not detect it feeding: Above. The top-lighting of this Tiger Swallowtail butterfly lets all of the color run free: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage     Click image to enlarge.

If you consider any of these images interesting enough to be worthy to become a part of your expression of what constitutes captured natural beauty, please feel free to contact me for high resolution prints - signed and numbered in a very limited addition, I submit this collection of prints here, plus our contact information can be found there to purchase these prints, and below here as well:

Contact Information to Purchase Prints:

Lynn Deatherage; sales representative -   phone: (252) 944-3952  •  email: lynn.deatherage@yahoo.com  •  or message me here on BCN