Thursday, January 12, 2006

Looking Back

Summer of 2002. I had started this job and was very depressed. The work is not the kind of work that suits me, but it's laid back enough. And some of the "personalities" that were in the office at the time wore at me. We were eating lunch in the cafeteria, because the patio was still under construction. The bright sunshine outside didn't seem to penetrate the building.

That's when I saw it, a bright happy yellow tigerswallowtail as bigger than the palm of your hand flapping along the window. I immediately perked up. I was enchanted, as my friends would say. The next several days also saw that butterfly and some of the dark phase swallowtails flitting on the patio as well. It really perked me up immensely.

That's why I was planned, that once I got a yard, I was going to turn it into a butterfly paradise. The tiger swallowtails like the cafeteria patio for the petunias that are in the planters. Any butterfly garden needs milkweed, because there isn't enough milkweed in the world. Buckeyes lay their eggs on snapdragons, and there should be some in this portion of the country. Cosmos and sunflowers, especially mexican sunflowers provide plenty of nectar. I'd love a butterfly bush, but I'm not certain whether I should plant a bush, because I'm renting. That's a little more permanent than the landlord might appreciate, or certainly more trouble to remove after I'm gone.

But thank you little butterfly for brightening my day. Even in the depths of winter.

1 comment:

Kasmira said...

In my zone (6), butterfly bush is more like a perennial and dies back to the ground each year. If your winters are not cold enough to kill it back, you can prune it to within 12 inches of the ground each spring to maintain a small size and a less "permanent" footprint. Your landlord will never even notice.
I think EVERY yard should have a butterfly bush. They are free flowering, drought-tolerant, and easy to maintain. The blooms smell like honey.
You could also probably grow one in a container.