Monarchs of all they survey.
I live on the edge of the monarch migration path. We don’t see the huge clouds of butterflies moving through. However, every autumn, it seems that monarchs, queens, painted-ladies, and others suddenly erupt out of the ground, trying to rip the Buddleia out of by their roots. The big plants in the front garden get most of the attention, but the ones in the back yard do not go unvisited. In case you were wondering, the Buddleia is five feet tall. The one in the back yard is six feet tall.
The smaller painted ladies are local. We also have swallowtails, which is why the front flowerbed and a few other places have fennel. We have milkweed for monarchs as well, but thus far we have not had any take advantage of the offer. I suspect we are too dry most years.
The sun was in exactly the wrong place for good photos.
The swallowtails have already headed out, although this one was lingering for some reason.
But this IS a close-up!
The smaller butterfly, on the left, is a painted lady. The larger one is a monarch. We also have a few viceroys. I suspect by the end of this week the monarchs will have all passed through on their way south.
The little beggers would not stay still. OK, the 25 MPH wind had something to do with it, but as soon as I’d sneak close enough and think I had a good, well-framed shot, off they whirled.
Cat Rotator's Quarterly 
Ah yes, flutterbys… 🙂 That’s what my daughters called them for years. 🙂 And we get the edge of them down here too. Pretty, but I don’t have anything in the yard to attract them.
Neat. I don’t get anything like that here.
The garden is designed to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, at least those parts that are not roses.