Caterpillars, butterflies, birds, other stuff

 Buckeye butterfly and caterpillar... The cat is using agalinis purpurea as a host plant.

These treefrog tadpoles are too cute...

Wild sunflower with bee and goldfinch...

I have video posted

Clearer pic of goldfinch.

 Fresh coat of paint on the house...

I really like this combination... even though the hibiscus wants more water than it's gettin, and the snake cotton is perfectly adapted to the droughty sandhill environment...

Trippy... I wish I'd been able to get more pics of this particular hawk moth...

datana caterpillars decimating sumac.

 Swallowtails and salvia...

I think these guys are tigers... seeing a lot of black tiger swallowtails this year....

Cooler temps

The temps have broke, we're even getting a bit of precip... the plants are happy...

White swamp hibiscus with snake cotton background.... don't you love it when the plants match?

 One of the crinums I've collected...

Took this spigelia pic this morning... 

 These hawk moths have been coming in the house at night to help me watch tv... I like them better in the garden...

 I like having fabaceae in the garden... Partridge pea and sesbania.

 2 more fabaceae, clitoria and centrosema

 Of course, the rain came too late to help the corn... Had to pick it and hang it to dry a little early, as it was sprouting inside the ears on the stalk...

 

 Got some nice height on the corn....

Life ain't nuthin but a daydream...

Li'l gray treefrog...

Triple digit heat

It's been reaching 100 and above for what seems like weeks now... In truth, I really missed the heat over the past couple of years when it failed to reach our normal highs.

Rudbeckia subtomentosa

Finally spotted a bug... Not sure why this particular rudbeckia seems not attractive to the pollinators...

Rudbeckia nitida herbstsonne

And the pollinators are wild for this one... Which I have growing mere feet away...

Starting to pick some of the corn... Nice dark colours on the glass gem.

Reds and yellows from the variegated patch... wish I had some chickens to feed it to... Or better yet... an easy way to turn it into flour...
Imagine home-grown tortillas...

Purple pods on the 'trail of tears' beans.

These are supposed to be purple tomatoes... but they seem a bit pinker this year...
They were purple last year...

A black swallowtail pays tribute to the belamcanda.

They're very happy with the lantana

Snake cotton...

 Always enjoy the centrosema...

The plants that aren't getting supplemental water... like this patch of verbesina... are wilting a bit...

Summer

I don't usually bother to post long range shots, it's difficult to tell what the picture is supposed to be...

I'll make an exception for this veggie post...
Pictured above is cucumber vines, cherry tomatoes, variegated corn, and canna / tiger lilies.

Closeup of the cuke vines.

Close up of the variegated corn stalks.

Glass gem corn 

 Closeup of the cannas / tiger lilies

Colour echo... tiger lily / crocosmia... couldn't see the crocosmia in the canna shot...

 The crinums have been repeat blooming... courtesy of the June rain.

Echinacea... seems to be getting a break this year (so far), usually the voles kill a lot of it...

Check out the colour echo!

Cleome, echinacea, and double rose of sharon.

 Matelea collection

 

I'm having to grow these in pots... And let them climb bamboo teepee supports...

The mateleas that I tried planting against the garden fence aren't doing well... 

locally native plants should do well in the garden.... Try telling these vines.

American painted lady... fresh hatch.

Cabbage butterfly... pollinating the collard flowers... 

 

Buck moth... try this... IF YOU DARE!

Pretty!