Another Visitor

The butterflies are starting to arrive.  Today, this eastern tiger swallowtail (missing one tail!) came to sample the sweet nectar of the garden coneflowers.  These flowers really do have a heavenly scent.  I cut a couple of the stragglers and put them in a vase to bring a little of the outdoors in and was surprised to find how strongly scented these pretty pink flowers are.  I'm glad they are hearty, too, as we've still been experiencing hot, dry weather and expect it to remain this way the rest of the week.  I've planted lots of cone flowers and black-eyed susans, not only because they are native plants and I find them very pretty, but because they are drought tolerant and fairly deer resistant, too.  For our area, those features are important ones for a thriving garden.