Pearl Crescent

On Sunday I happened to notice this tiny butterfly on my cosmos plant. I've probably seen this kind of butterfly many times before, as research tells me it's pretty common, but this time I actually SAW it and wondered about it. Maybe it was all the monarchs that preceded it. Or maybe it was just the camera and photo-taking. Anyway, I thought it was pretty and worthy of running back to the house for the camera. The little butterfly obliged and waited for me.

It stayed quite a long time, actually.

And it posed very nicely.

Then it decided to move over to the plains coreopsis plants.

Of course I had to search and find out what it was called. It happens to be a Pearl Crescent butterfly. It was pretty easy to identify, especially with the help of the Gardens With Wings website.

Just pretty

Cantaloupe blossom:

Day lilies:

Plains coreopsis:

Bachelor buttons:

Moss roses:

Just pretty

I'll give you a break from kittens/cats today. :)

These are my plains coreopsis flowers from my wildflower bed (which is kind of a mess this year, but these are blooming profusely). I know, you've seen them before, but not photos taken with this camera, which I think makes them look even better. :) Anyway, I think they're just lovely for photographing. Enjoy!

Just one day later

When I went out to get the mail a couple of hours ago, I noticed it. That corn is starting to tassel! So of course I had to head back to the house for the camera to document it. (You'd better REALLY appreciate it, Mark... 'cause it was 94° out!) Here's the proof:

While I was at it, I snapped this field of alfalfa. The windrows were turned over this morning to aid in drying, so hopefully it'll be ready to bale (without rain, mind you!) tomorrow.

Here's another field that hasn't been turned yet:

(Hmmm... why didn't I crop off that mucky cattle yard? Oh, well... too lazy to do it now.)

It's been miserably HOT and HUMID for the last week. But, in case you didn't notice, I've refrained from whining about it on the blog. It's been awful, but not as whine-worthy as last winter. ;)

Oh, and remember my plains coreopsis that I showed you last Friday? The heat has taken its toll and matured it (and a lot of other things) way too fast. This is what it looks like this afternoon:

Guess there'll be plenty of seeds for next year's garden, huh? Eek.

Click any pic to enlarge.

NOT standing alone

The plains coreopsis in my wildflower bed has gotten a little out of hand this year, to say the least!

This is what happens when I don't get them thinned.

They're pretty, but they totally overwhelm the other flowers.

I like the "mutant" ones that do kinda stand alone amongst all the yellow:

And some have even managed to stand 'alone' alone.

Or amongst the coneflowers.....

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

.... which, interestingly, didn't have the yellow edges last year. Can flowers actually cross species like that? A botanist I am not.

Another wildflower surprise

In this sea of yellow/brown plains coreopsis....

... I was surprised the other day to find these:

A rather nice little mutation, don'tcha think?

Morning glory

When I went out to check the garden yesterday morning, I just couldn't resist going back to the house for the camera. The wildflower bed is full of these plains coreopsis.

And look at the buds below. Potential for tons more!

So pretty!

There are still plenty of bachelor buttons, too.

And just a few coneflowers that appeared mysteriously last summer.

Kind of an odd-looking flower, aren't they?

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

I tossed out some new seeds in a couple of bare spots this spring, but despite plenty of rain, they only produced a couple of zinnias and marigolds. And they're not blooming yet.

From the wildflower bed

The pink baby's breath has now been pretty much taken over by the blue of the bachelor buttons.

Although there is getting to be quite a bit of the plains coreopsis now, too.

I've only found 2 clarkia plants that have come back from last year.

And there are a couple of coneflowers like this that I didn't even have last year. I don't know where they came from!

The vanilla ice sunflowers reseeded themselves from last year, too. I don't think they're quite as nice as last year's though. They're certainly not as tall. But they still are nice.

And that's what's out there for now, except for some white godetia that don't photograph well, and besides, the only ones that were blooming just got chewed off by... SOMETHING. Rabbit? Woodchuck? *sigh*