This weekend was the weekend to celebrate native plants! On Sunday, I visited the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. This garden is the largest largest botanic garden dedicated to California native plants. It also hosts a butterfly pavilion. The grounds were full of wildlife activity, the buzzing of bees and the melody of birdsong as I explored the winding paths through desert, chaparral and pine forest. At 10 am the butterfly pavilion opened up. (Butterflies sleep in until the sun gets warm… smart!) There I was able to view close up and personal some of the many butterflies of California such as our state’s insect the California dogface. Here are some of the images from my visit.

Cabbage White and California Dogface on Seaside Daisy

Gulf Fritillary nectaring on butterfly feeder