On Earth Day I went to a native plant sale that had an abundance of butterfly plants. I ended up coming home with two new host plants and a great deal of nectar plants to add to my ever growing butterfly garden. I saw some fennel that was absolutely gorgeous for a really good price, so I added it to the wagon that was already overflowing with other plants.

In the past when I have planted host plants for swallowtails it has taken quite a while before the butterfly finds my garden. One of the host plants, two years later still has not been visited by its preferred butterfly. Well, that is not the case for my fennel. To my great surprise I spotted two black swallowtail caterpillars, already a good size.

So to my great delight, we just added another species who is visiting our yard, leaving behind eggs and generating a life cycle right before our eyes.

The caterpillars are gorgeous with their coloring.