Showy, indeed

 

I'm in Twisp this week, looking out at a transformed river from just two months ago, when the raging brown water carried entire trees past the front window. The view changed now to happy people in inner tubes floating peacefully by in this hot weather.

When the flood subsided in early June, we found that instead of washing away precious shoreline, that exceptionally high spring run-off deposited more beneficial sand.

Another gift we didn't realize at the time was a sprinkling of Showy Milkweed seeds that sprouted like magic on the sandy beach. It grows around the Valley, but I've never seen it on our property.

Showy Milkweed is especially beloved by butterflies, and indeed the little patch of flowers is swarming with Papilio rutulus, a spectacular butterfly commonly known as the Western Tiger Swallowtail. 

They were oblivious to everything but the flowers as I sat watching yesterday, taking these pictures with the iPhone's miraculous camera. Out of nowhere, a magical butterfly garden appeared.

And also loved by our friends the bees.

I sat there contemplating how close I came to pulling out these new "weeds" when they first appeared on the beach. Fortunately, I looked it up first on my handy plant identification app, which described the importance of Showy Milkweed to butterfly survival.

Easy to see why certain varieties are milkweed are sought after garden plants.