Junonia coenia & Nepeta cataria

[bill and Dale]

Today, for the second year in a row, Buckeyes (two) showed up in my yard
within a few days of my catnip blooming. I'm not suggesting that there
is any connection between the two events, just coincidence, but catnip
is just one of those overlooked nectar plants that is so common it
doesn't get good press.
In a similar vein, yesterday at the Steep Rock Reservation in Washington
CT, in a field we found a small patch of sage (Salvia sp.) that was
covered with skippers, mostly Dun and N.Broken Dash, but including a
Delaware Skipper. This appeared to be an escaped cultivated sage, not a
wild sage, and the skippers seemed to prefer it to all the other flowers
in the field.
I thought some people might be interested in these duel purpose plants,
I know I am.  One of my other favorite duel purpose plants are garden
leeks.  I grow more than I can use for food for myself and let the rest
die back in winter. Next spring they sprout and flower, blooming into a
large round cluster of flowers just like a cultivated Allium, and they
are a great nectar flower for butterflies and a variety of wasps and
flower beetles.
                                              Bill Yule