Zinnia Love

Lilacs and Zinnias seem to be the only flowers in our yard that interest yellow swallowtails.  Monarchs, fritillaries, and others will visit everything, but this queen of butterflies is discriminating.

And, of lilacs and zinnia, they seem to love the latter the most.  You cannot approach them very closely when they're on lilacs, but when they're infatuated with zinnias--drunken with pink--you can walk right up to them and they won't fly away.

Thoroughly distracted, they are.

It's hard to believe that our zinnias began here this spring:

because we have...not so great success with seeds, here in our clay soil.  As it was, we didn't get mixed colors, but a single pink, but since it's a good pink, we and the swallowtails are thrilled.

We found zinnias on a list of ten annuals easy-to-grow-from seed.  Other plants on the list--arugula, nasturniums, alyssum--failed in our soil!  But the zinnias come up reliably and bloom for weeks in mid-to-late summer.  Zinnia love.

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