4th of July

Happy birthday America! Those of you with red, white and blue blog posts inspired me to look through my yard to find trios of patriotic colors.


For red, I've got turk's cap


and Dallas Red lantana


For white, annual pentas


garlic chives


mint blooms


and Natchez crepe myrtle. This is my neighbor's tree. It's my favorite garden feature that I lucked into. It's a substantial part of the view when we're relaxing on the couch or the patio. The tree's shape is great, the leaves are a rich green and the bark is eye catching. The blooms are a bonus.


For blue, I've got dwarf blue plumbago in the front yard. This picture makes the blue look washed out and more like the pastel blue on the other blue plumbago plant, the rambling shrub the people grow as an annual. (Common names, they're a disaster). Maybe it's the harsh lighting or maybe I'm unfairly comparing this blue to my next two plants...


black and blue salvia


and my newest addition, the truest blue I have: blue pea vine.

Happy 235th America! Here's to many more.

A Butterfly By Another Name

I usually think of moths as butterflies' dowdy cousins. But aganist this Becky shasta daisy, this one was striking.


Unlike butterflies, moths rest with their wings open, which makes them much easier to photograph.


I happened to have my camera in the car and pulled into the driveway at just the right moment to capture a black swallowtail butterfly on my Dallas red lantana. She is a relative of the caterpillars that were munching on my parsley in the back yard. From what I've read online, you can tell she is a female because of the large amount of blue on the wings.


This, I believe, is a chrysalis or a butterfly cocoon. Technically, moths make cocoons (which are fuzzy), and  butterflies make chrysalides. Chrysalides can be green or brown depending on what is needed to blend into the surroundings. The disguise worked; I thought this one was dead lantana leaf that needed to be removed. But when I touched it (gently), it didn't crumble. In nine to 11 days, the butterfly should emerge.

Winged Guests

Since the summer flowers have come into bloom, butterflies and bees are everywhere.

Any time I go out front, I see at least three or four of these Border Patch Butterflies enjoying my lantana.

Here's the same species with its wings closed. This is by far the most common butterfly in my yard. I photographed this one on my climbing rose bush in the backyard.

I've only see the Hummingbird Moth visit my garden once so far. But they're so willing to let you watch and photograph them up close that the time you get to spend observing them leaves you feeling very satisfied.

By contrast, I never get to watch the huge Swallowtail Butterflies for more than a few seconds, and, as soon as I turn toward the house to grab my camera, they're gone.

However, I did get a good look at the Black Swallowtail Caterpillars enjoying my parsley. I let the parsely flower because I was hoping to attract these guests. Today was the first day I noticed them.

It seems like you can see his litte face in this picture. These caterpillars were so photogenic. I have a few more shots in my flickr Bugs set.

Finally, near dusk I saw this fuzzy caterpillar chomping on my nandia. I saw another one on my front porch a few nights ago. I know they will turn into moths, but I am not sure which kind. Giant Leopard Moths maybe?