Philadelphus - Butterfly Magnet

Day 273: Philadelphus! If you're familiar with the tree/shrub, you undoubtedly will have a memory of its fragrance. In either form, it is also known as "Mock-orange," and the scent is similar to that of citrus flowers. Here, it is a magnet for Swallowtail butterflies when it blooms, with the insects often hovering in clouds above the blossoms. Throughout the day, the entire neighbourhood is filled with its perfume, but following a warm afternoon, the scent is even stronger in the evening. Philadelphus lewisii (the leggy tree) is native to the Pacific Northwest, as opposed to its shrubby counterpart which is a commercial cultivar.

Butterfly Magnet

Day 254: The Philadephus buds are just beginning to open, and already the Swallowtails are flocking in dozens to nectar at the blossoms. This highly fragrant type (Philadelphus lewisii) grows as a leggy cluster of trunks and may reach heights of 15' or more. It is native to the Northwest, as opposed to the popular shrub P. coronarius. Both are known commonly as "Mock Orange" for their heady scent. Mine towers above the garage roof, serving birds and butterflies alike. At peak bloom, its perfume fills the neighbourhood for a quarter mile radius, particularly on warm afternoons. Although the tree itself is not particularly lovely, the scent more than makes up for its shortfalls. Its ability to draw Swallowtails and Parnassians is a bonus.

Nectaring

Day 268: One thing is certain: when the Philadelphus blooms, the Swallowtails will find it. However, this event has given rise to a puzzlement, and one for which I have no ready answer. Over the thirty years that I have lived here, I have had at least three species of Swallowtail in abundance, but very seldom have any two species appeared in the same year. This year is dominated by Papilio eurymedon, the Pale Swallowtail. It is characterized by its creamy-white colouration, noticeably lighter than the bright yellow of the Western Tiger Swallowtail. When the Philadelphus blooms, the Swallowtails flock to it in droves in preference to any other plant in my yard where they are frequently joined by the hummingbirds who also nectar at its flowers. Who can blame them? On warm evenings, the perfume of the tree carries well beyond the boundaries of my property, filling the neighbourhood with its scent.

Philadelphus

Day 262: With roughly 60 different species of Philadelphus and a raft of varieties of those under nursery cultivation, it's no wonder that my mother and I used to disagree on what plant was growing in our respective yards. My Philadelphus was tall and leggy, a mass of stems/trunks rising from its base, blooming in clusters. Hers was a shrub, ornamental, with its flowers closely spaced along the entire length of each branch. Seeing the two plants side by side, you would not have thought them to be related. We spent many years arguing over Philadelphus, but as my knowledge of plants grew, I discovered that we were both right. Mine turned out to be a native species, Philadelphus lewisii. Hers was likely a variety of P. coronarius. In either case, when they bloomed, any debate over the common name "mock-orange" was cut short by the scent. Both emitted an unmistakable fragrance which could be detected a city block away. Currently, my untidy, sprangly P. lewisii is perfuming my yard and attracting both swallowtails and hummingbirds, which just goes to show that you don't have to be beautiful to be appealing.

The Philadelphus Story

Day 272: While I may take taxonomists to task for shattering families and sowing discord between species, I wish someone would sit down with their little DNA-sampling equipment and sort out the mess in Philadelphus. It was a bone of contention between my mother and me; she had a Mock Orange in her yard which was a bush six feet around, heavily laden with flowers along each branch. In my yard, the term referred to a fifteen-foot tall sprangly shrub which, although abundantly floral, bore clusters more widely separated. In point of fact (at least according to current taxonomy,) both belonged to the genus Philadelphus. There are at least sixty-five species and subspecies of Philadelphus, and not all are fragrant. They range in height from 3-20 feet, and their growth habit is sufficiently diverse that one could be fit into almost any landscaping theme. Mine (Philadelphus lewisii) fills the whole neighbourhood with its fragrance on warm afternoons and is much loved by the Swallowtail butterflies who flock 'round it by dozens.