Here are a few photos of the plants and butterflies I found on a recent walk to see how the plants are rebounding from our long drought.
Black Swallowtail butterfly heading to a small blue flower I can't identify yet
Prairie Phlox which I will try to collect seeds from. This is the first time I remember seeing the phlox here.
This Pink Evening Primrose is interesting because a bug apparently bored through the bud and creating round holes in each petal. Almost looks as if someone used a hole punch on it.
Gulf Fritillary butterfly on Prairie Verbena, the verbena has been especially beautiful this year.
So far things are looking really good back there this year. I don't remember seeing any swallowtails or fritillaries last year so it was encouraging to see the wildflowers and butterflies returning to this area after two years of really rough weather.
The Outback there sounds nice, like our's. Our's is storming back into the property, as well as some other plants we put in, now volunteering...yet not the oaks... Your verbena too? Wow...
ReplyDeleteWe get too many volunteer oaks here, wish I could share because we have to pull them out.
DeleteThe verbena this year has been the best I've seen around here.
Love that Prairie Phlox. The verbena has been gorgeous this year. There were so few butterflies last year, I'm sure due to the drought. We didn't have a single caterpillar on our passionflower vine last summer, but this year it is covered in them.
ReplyDeleteThe butterflies are working their way into the yard as more stuff blooms. I haven't seen too many caterpillars yet, but then my passionflower vine is still recovering from the drought.
DeleteI remember when our neighborhood still had empty lots. I was always curious as to the plants in the empty lots. Surprising our area always had a lot of Indian Paintbrush. It’s nice to see someone else is interested at the little bits of wild nature so close around us.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to find Indian Paintbrush out there. I tried planting seeds, but they didn't come up.
DeleteShould have mentioned in the post, the bluebonnet photo in the header was taken back there too.
You're fortunate for now to have the green space behind you. Love the photo of the "hole-punched" Primrose.
ReplyDeleteI do try to appreciate it as much as possible. First time visitors who know me mostly from the blog are surprised by the location which is not too far from one of the busiest intersections in the city.
DeleteYour 'outback' looks good. You have more wildflower varieties, than we do here.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking our deer make that happen.
I do need to get out and see just what is blooming out there, besides lots of verbena.
I'd love to have that Prairie Phlox blooming here.
The deer pretty much live in this field where there is a stand of ashe juniper and oaks for cover. They may have more to choose from, not sure, but they don't eat most of the native plants around here.
DeleteHow nice to have a wild area to observe. I think the butterflies and other creatures are just as happy as we are that the drought is gone. And you can most certainly say they don't think of wildflowers as weeds!
ReplyDeleteThis year has just been amazing so far and the butterflies are over in the yard now too.
DeleteI hope the commercial development is slow-to-never in coming! Is it possible your first blue flower is Blue Skullcap/ Scutellaria wrightii? I was happy to find this plant at a nursery but it would be even cooler to see it in the wild:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SCWR2
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Thank you Annie, it certainly does look like Scutellaria wrightii! I read your post and went right out to take more photos as the light was good. It looks like a match from here. It's all over the place back there. I will try to get seeds or relocate some of it since it is so plentiful.
DeleteYou're so lucky to have a wild area nearby. We used to have one until developers built houses on it. Lovely butterflies, by the way.
ReplyDelete