garden critters in july

 Spicebush swallowtail nectaring at cnidoscolus

 Gulf fritillary starting a family...

The frit caterpillar...

silver spotted skipper also visiting cnidoscolus

Wheel barrow full of smilax tubers... one clump... now, if there were any decent recipes!

Fence post lizard

 The dreaded squash vine borer moth

Very attractive bug for being so unloved...

The SVB grub...

Another pest...

Gopher tortoise in the new section of the garden... chomping horse turds!

Isn't this funny! I've been attracting butterflies with truckloads of horse poop ever since I got here... didn't know that the turtles also liked it...

Truckloads of poop... each pile represents an entire truckload... The idea is that after setting on top of the ground for a couple weeks, the sand softens up... makes digging out roots easier... Of course... as dry as it is... seems almost hopeless... 

Rose of sharon....  I'm considering grouping some of my white flowers... call it a white garden...

White flowered cleome... 

butterflies and stuff

I don't remember seeing monarchs last year... unfortunately this one didn't linger...

And, another fan of the stokesia.

canna

Elderberry flowers... 

garlic scapes

Talinum paniculatum

Broadhead skink

moth (unidentified)

Wasp visits asclepias amplexicaulis

zebra swallowtail

gopher tortoise

anole in corn patch

American Lady

It's a spectacular year for cudweed / rabbit tobacco.... It's so prolific that I'm finding myself actually pulling it out of the vegetable beds! Normally I leave it be... gotta have host plants.... if you are gonna have butterflies....

When I spotted an American Painted Lady laying eggs... I went running for a camera... 

Naturally, the butterfly was long gone by the time I got back... so... I carried the camera around hoping for another chance....

And... when I found another lady... I took lots of photos...

 And... A Buckeye had to inspect the garden soil while I planted the glass gem corn....

 The penstemons are blooming.

  I posted at length about penstemon may 2013

Check the bug....

 Some final bloom on the wild amsonia.

Speaking of bumper crops.... The 7 minute itch is everywhere... and can't hand pull this stuff... 

Farkleberry  bloom. (vaccinium arboreum)

 Smallanthus Uvedalia AKA Bear's Foot Flower

 Tephrosia Virginiana AKA Goat's Rue 

I tried planting the seed of this beauty one year... miserable luck... First... there were a ton of weevils inside the pods... and when I actually found a few seeds... the voles got the babies.

Solution? Grow in pots... which sucks.

Verbena bonaris... I brought this in from a garden in town.

Tansy ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) 

Haven't seen the Cinnabar Moth yet... But... Ima keep my eyes peeled...
Don't let the smallanthus leaf fool you... Had to use it to get a clear picture of the bloom.

April Flowers

Native crossvine

Natural coral honeysuckle

Ok, Native plants aficionados... Can you explain the difference between a native, a locally native, and a natural?

Red buckeye; Also a native...

And since I'm not strictly about growing native plants.... here's an exotic azalea... 

Poppies are blooming... Here's a time lapse of the same patch... the patch starts out red... and eventually turns mostly purple...
As gorgeous as these are... I'm kicking myself for not having planted more... But... Pictures just don't do them justice, and I forget how much I like them when October planting time rolls around...

Bearded iris in foreground.... Louisiana iris in background....

Found my black rat snake coachwhip snake... tied up in bird netting ... cut it loose
Maybe y'all remember the king snake from 2013?
You'd think I'd quit trying to use bird netting in a nature garden... But... I was trying to protect my baby carrots... sure is hard on my valuable snakes, though...
I'm using window screens over the seedlings in pots... I'm going to have to start using the screen out in the beds...