Buckeyes in the Garden

Today I took a little break and went out into the garden.  We've finally begun to get some rain.  It's been a very dry summer after a very wet spring and the result has been a lot of stress on the garden. 

I usually have a lot of butterflies, hummingbirds and other wildlife in my garden.  Now, the majority of the butterflies are Buckeyes (Junonia coenia), monarchs and the little  drab butterfly you see on the upper left  edge of this sedum.  I often look at my garden and sigh.  I think of Sunita and her wonderful exotic flowers and plants in her garden in India and wonder....do our common butterflies instill her with the awe that hers instill in us?  You can see her blog  here.

In case you're wondering...the name "buckeye" has nothing to do with Ohio.  These butterfliesa are common in all parts of the US, except for the Northwest, and in southern Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec, as well as in Central America and Columbia.  The name comes instead from the dots on the wings which resemble deer eyes.  The "eye spots" are thought to confuse birds.  They are kind of hard to photograph as they are constantly fanning their wings.