Last summer as I was browsing through some blogs I stumbled upon a post on Winged Beauty Butterflies that mentioned Butterflies and Blooms in the Briar Patch, a butterfly habitat in Eatonton, Georgia. The next time we were visiting near there I stopped by the habitat and fell in love with it. I posted about my first visit to the habitat at Wandering in the Briar Patch.
My latest visit to the habitat was this past weekend in July, 2016. While I was wandering through the garden I had the pleasure of meeting Virginia Linch, the woman with the vision to create this magnificent butterfly habitat. Her enthusiasm was contagious as she gave me a tour and introduced me to many of the native Georgia nectar plants that I wasn’t familiar with. She also knew where to look for caterpillars and showed me some so tiny I would have never seen them if she hadn’t pointed them out.
The blooms were vibrant throughout the garden.
I could see swallowtails, monarchs and other butterflies landing on the blooms but none would stay around long enough for me to get a picture. A Viceroy landed on the ground in front of me and paid no attention to me at all.
This Gulf Fritillary wasn’t shy.
I would never have spotted this Giant Swallowtail caterpillar if Virginia hadn’t pointed it out to me.
You can see how small it is compared to Virginia’s hand.
There are benches for resting and even a new porch for sitting.
Thank you Virginia for giving me a tour and for all of your hard work!
Butterflies and Blooms in the Briar Patch is Certified Monarch Way Station No. 9045 and is also an official site for geo-caching.
Wandering Dawgs 
The butterflies are beautiful! You found a great place! 🙂
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I would give anything to have a habitat like this near me! Lovely photos!
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I want to go to there!!! What an amazing place and since I never will get there thank you for sharing it. I love butterflies!
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Fantastic pictures Beth!
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Thanks Sherry!
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This was wonderful! Thank you for sharing….we’ll have to visit!
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Thanks Debbie!
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Beautiful! What a neat place to visit. 🙂
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Now, that’s was an amazing way to spend a day. Wow!!! I saw a swallowtail today, took 40 photos or so, and actually got a couple that were good. Your photos are beautiful. 🙂
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Great pictures! We’ll have to get by there some day.
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That caterpillar is freaky looking! But what a wonderful pollinator habitat.
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That caterpillar was even freakier in person! It is a wonderful place.
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Such gorgeous butterflies and the caterpillar is fascinating. Not sure I would want to run into 100 of them but definitely intriguing. Having the hand in the photo really gives it perspective.
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Was great to meet you, Beth! am so glad i was there, thank you so much for your donation, we are extremely frugal, which is why it has taken 3 years to get where we are and your help-helps! We are an all volunteer group, am sure you know what that means – we do it all!
Please visit our facebook page at Butterflies & Blooms in the Briar Patch to see what we have done since you were there and see the butterflies that are flying about now
looking forward to seeing you again, all welcome any time
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Thank you! I follow your Facebook page and love seeing all the photos! Looking forward to my next visit.
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I have never seen this caterpillar.
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I would have never seen it if it hadn’t been pointed out to me. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
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