Butterfly Boom

How glorious it is this morning, with warm sunshine and a blue sky after so many weeks of rain and leaden skies. All I can say is: thank goodness Somerset floats, or we'd all be up to our necks in floodwater.

I suspect that the relative coldness and miserable weather discouraged butterflies from moving out of chrysalis stage, as they really wouldn't have any chance to dry their beautiful wings out. This morning has been a riot of colour and butterflies. There are more butterflies than I have seen for years; painted ladies, red admirals and cabbage whites among the few I'm able to recognise.

We grew a buddleia next to our wall; I had dug it up from the main bed as a weed and then didn't have the heart to kill it, so it went into a bare, scraggy corner to provide a bit of privacy. That buddleia has now turned into a rampant triffid and hangs over the wall to shade my parking spot. Approaching the car this morning, I counted 15 butterflies before the need to rush off to work overtook me. Nature is so wonderful and beautiful. My buddleia has repaid me for it's life and the butterflies are making my little patio area feel summery and exotic. What a perfect day.