The butterflies are arriving

Hooray!

Now that Spring bloom is beginning and the garden is lush after all that winter and early spring rain, the butterflies are back. It's always such a joy to see them flitting around, basking in the warm sunshine, and sipping on nectar.

Above is a Common Checkered skipper sipping from a flowerhead on one of the Verbena de la Mina shrubs.

A Field Crescent perched on a dried flower stalk of a California Gumplant.

I left the dry stalks from last autumn on all of our California natives.

A Gulf Fritillary sipping on nectar from a blossom on our Hot Lips Sage shrub.

You can see why the Verbena de la Mina is one of my very favorite shrubs.

It's a big hit with bees and butterflies, blooms throughout the year, and needs zero maintenance.

Here, an Anise swallowtail sips the nectar.

I did see other butterfly visitors in the garden today, including a Monarch, a Pipevine swallowtail, Common hairstreak, Painted lady, Gulf fritillary and a Red Admiral. However, they were flying through, not landing on anything. So no photos of them, yet.