Mexicali Rose Buds July 20, 2014

My MexicaliRose is blooming.  The buds are as pretty as the flowers.  This is an extremely aggressive plant.  In fact, it's a bit alarming how fast it is spreading down the Boardwalk.

Philippine Lilies July 27, 2014

My Philippine Lilies are in full bloom right now.  So pretty.  I have many seedlings in the flowerbeds right now.  They will be of blooming size next year.  Each lily bloom produces many hundreds of seeds, so every year I sow them in different places.  These lilies like some shade.

Oakleaf Hydrangea July 20, 2014

When the Oakleaf Hydrangeas began to bloom in the spring I wrote that I love this plant because it has 4 seasons of interest.  With spring come the beautiful white blooms.  Now that it is summer the flowers have faded to a pink-brown color.  And they will remain on the plant like this for several months.  I think they are pretty like this. 

Tiger Swallowtail July 20, 2014

The Tiger Swallowtail is my favorite butterfly.  The Giant Swallowtail is really pretty also, but more common.  I don't see many Tigers.  This one is sipping nectar from my Almon Verbena.

Orange Flowers July 20, 2014

My beloved zinnias:  nothing says summer like a zinnia.

Above, this is milkweed.  I'm always ready for the Monarch butterflies, but they have been really scarce the last three years or so.  I have lots of Queen butterflies visiting my garden, and they are in the milkweed butterfly family as well.

Above and below, this is Flame Acanthus.  Hummingbirds love it, and it is the larval food for the Crimson Patch and Texas Crescent butterflies.  This is a deciduous perennial.  And it spreads like crazy.  It will root wherever it touches the ground, and it sets seed.  I find it growing in lots of flowerbeds, how it got there is anybody's guess - bird poop, wind, etc.  I cut mine back with hedge clippers just like a shrub.  It doesn't mind at all. 

Phillippine Lilies Loaded with Blooms July 20, 2014

Thanks to the Philippine Lily's phenomenal seed-setting capability, I have these beautiful plants growing everywhere in various stages of maturity.  Each flower, after it fades, sets hundreds of seeds inside a very cool-looking pod.  In addition to Tiger Lilies (which the voles seem to love since I cannot get them to return every year), Philippine Lilies are very well-suited to the south's hot weather.  Clay soil, sandy soil - they do fine in either.  In the evenings these lovely flowers release their scent, and the hummingbird moths love them.

Waste Not Want Not

I filled some old shoes with soil and stuck a couple of succulents into them.  No sense in throwing them away.