Happy Monday Your Artistic Ideaers!
It’s officially fall in the Northern Hemisphere and our gardens are already reflecting the change of seasons. Late bloomers are unfurling and foliage colors are beginning to shift, but pollinators are still busy. To celebrate these vital creatures that are hard at work in our gardens for the entire growing season, Stephanie Stewart in Averill Park, New York has shared some fantastic pollinator photos. Stephanie has shared the beautiful flowers she grows and the pollinators that enjoy them a couple of times in the past (Check out those posts here: Stephanie’s Coneflowers and Stephanie’s Favorite Pollinators), and today she’s sharing the busy pollinators she was able to photograph this summer.
It’s been an unusually dry summer in Averill Park, NY. My gardens are suffering from lack of water as we’ve conserved our well water. It’s wonderful to see the pollinators visiting both perennials and annuals in the garden.
Stephanie Stewart
Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) and swallowtails flutter from flower to flower, always a pleasure to observe!
The goldfinches (Spinus tristis) are very interested in the zinnias, stripping the petals and leaving seed heads for another feast.
The hummingbirds and hummingbird moths (Hemaris thysbe) are very active as well.
An eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) enjoyed Stephanie’s bright pink zinnias—lucky to snag this snack before a goldfinch has its way with it!
Stephanie has an incredible collection of coneflowers (Echinacea spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9) in a dazzling assortment of colors. And as this visiting monarch indicates, these vibrant blooms are just as enticing for butterflies and other pollinators as they are to gardeners.
Thank you so much for sharing this assortment of incredible pollinators that have visited your garden, Stephanie! You captured some magical moments of real garden harmony this summer.
What pollinators did you spot in your garden this year? Let us know in the comments, or considering sharing any pollinator activity you were able to photograph with Garden Photo of the Day! Follow the directions below to submit photos via email, or send me a DM on Instagram: @agirlherdogandtheroad.
We want to see YOUR garden!
To submit, send 5–10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.