The swamp milkweed (Asclepius incarnata) has been a great draw and will serve as host plants (food plants) for the monarch butterfly - which admittedly is my target species to attract on account of the terrible decline in their numbers due to the loss of food plants for their larvae.
I also included dill weed and rue to attract the stray Giant Swallowtails that have been coming into Connecticut over the last couple of years. I didn't see any Giants this year but I was surprised to see on a beautiful day in July young Black Swallowtail caterpillars - affectionately called "cats".
In the next part, I will take you through the life cycle of the black swallowtail as I experienced it.