Salty Lemons

Black Swallowtail and Swiss chard from my 2011 archive

June 11, 2011

Visitor

I had a garden visitor on one of the Swiss chard plants that bolted and is about to set seed. It was a black butterfly with yellow and blue markings. I googled and found out it is called a Black Swallowtail.

This Swiss chard plant was one of three that survived the brutal winter. It was fairly productive for a few weeks this spring until the weather began to warm. Then it bolted. Although there is always risk of bolting in hot weather, my Swiss chard plants were productive throughout Summer 2010 without doing it. Through research, I found that chard does overwinter, but then tends to bolt early in the spring. I am allowing all the plants in my garden to set seeds since I am determined to collect and dry the seeds for future use. I did it skeptically a few times last year, and I am happy to say a few plants in the garden this year are from seeds I collected last year.

Back to the absolutely stunning butterfly. I hope this type becomes a regular visitor. This was the first time I had ever seen one with these markings and colors. Strange enough, later that day I spotted one at the Farmers Market in Union Square. Two lucky sightings in one day.

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