My Great-Aunt Mimi has a passion for butterflies and has an absolutely divine butterfly garden. I went to visit Mimi over the weekend and there seemed to be hundreds of butterflies out that day, flitting from flower to flower in the hot sunshine.

Mimi has chosen the plants in her garden with care. She prefers native plants that support the butterfly population.

One such butterfly/plant duo is the spicebush and the spicebush swallowtail butterfly. Spicebush swallowtail butterfly larvae eat the leaves of the spicebush, so where you find one, you may very well find the other. There was a large crowd of the inky-black butterflies in Mimi’s garden when I was there.

Mimi and I spent the whole day in the garden. We weeded, we watered, and we talked, but mainly we relaxed and enjoyed the spectacle of all the beautiful butterflies who come to stay every year in my wonderful Aunt Mimi’s garden.