Ready To Enjoy Blooms Of Apple Mint

August 9, 2025

A Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), thinking about checking out the nectar of Apple Mint (Mentha suaveolens) blooms.

Red Admiral adults don’t eat, but only drink. Seeking out the moisture of flower nectar, tree sap, rotting fruit, bird droppings, and wet soil to get minerals and electrolytes.

Plants in the nettle family (Urticaceae) are most often chosen as host plants for Red Admiral larvae.

A medium sized butterfly, they have a wingspan of 1.75 to 3 inches.

I often wonder why its name is not Orange Admiral.

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Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.