Butterflies and sweet potatoes...........

The sweet potato is a very important cash crop here in the fields of North Carolina.  It must love our climate much more than I do.  I can even prove it!

If one teeny little 8" potted plant tucked into the earth in June can survive and thrive through a brutally hot, dry Summer such as we've experienced...........and end up gobbling up my garden bench as this one has, proof enough right?

If the vines are growing on the farmland like this, no shortage of the very nutritious sweet potato is predicted for this Autumn/Winter roasting and pie-baking I'm certain.

So where was I yesterday?  Needless to say, out there in the broiling sun, coated in OFF bug repellant and sunscreen..........no, not sunbathing, more like pruning, trimming, fighting with the vine which now seems to be growing several inches a day.  There's another at the mailbox which had already tried to strangle our lovely mailman this past week, so later I had to tackle that one also....before it crossed the street and got away from me!

The nice part about slogging away, covered in sweat, batting off bugs and panting for a second bottle of water, is discovering the tangled vine is hiding a true 'butterfly garden'.

 

This year the butterflies are awesome - plentiful and gigantic.  These swallowtails are almost the size of small birds!  Swooping and dancing in the air they land on lantana and buddleia bushes to sip nectar, oblivious to the searing heat of late morning.

There is a spot to sit there somewhere!

Please enjoy my butterfly images in yesterday's sunshine.  Their lives are so short, already some have ragged wings and fading colors, but they bring such beauty to the garden for a short time.

.............and yes, my aging birdhouse is listing a wee bit, guess the post has warped in the relentless heat....just like me!