Camera Critters

Chrysanthemum 'Venus' seems to be where all of the cool insects hang out these days. There and aster 'Miss Bessie', but that's another post.

I haven't seen many buckeyes this year, although it's been a butterfly mecca here for most of the growing season. It's probably because the vegetable garden was heavily mulched last winter, covering the seed of the blue toadflax that had volunteered there, and my husband mowed the toadflax that was in the lawn before it could go to seed. (The battle between neatness vs. patience continues.) I will have to get some toadflax seed. We do have a lot of wild Gerardia though in the floodway fields and by the creek, so the buckeyes may have been there. I think this is one of the most beautiful of butterflies.

The bumblebees are still hard at work.

Virginia ctenuchid moth, a diurnal (daytime) moth that is
frequently seen side by side with bees, wasps and butterflies.

The honeybees are hard at work too, quickly buzzing from flower to flower.

Coming in for a landing

Nope, not this one

Perfect

To see more critters of all sorts, visit Camera Critters!

Blooming Friday

We haven't yet had a killing frost, so there is still a lot in bloom.
This Hibiscus dasycalyx has bloomed on and off since June.

'Blush Noisette' has been putting out blooms for several weeks.
The fragrance is as old-fashioned and sweet as the flowers.

The fuchsia pink of this rugosa rubra really stands out and shows up the beautiful stamens.

'Madame Ernest Calvat' hasn't produced a lot of blooms at once in my garden, but each flower is a delight.

Like the roses, the dahlias limped along all summer through the heat and Japanese
beetles, but with the arrival of autumn they have really come into their own.

Naturally this deep purple one doesn't have a tag. I love the color; it's very rich and velvety.

This lovely pink dahlia lays on the ground more than she stands up, but she is beautiful nonetheless.

Both the pink dahlia and this one came from a lady in the mountains of NC, where
dahlias are a garden staple. The dahlias love the cooler temperatures up there.

'Ferncliff Illusion'

Perhaps my favorite of all, 'Rothsay Reveler'. The flowers can be
huge and can range from purple and white to nearly all purple.

The American beautyberries are at their peak now; in mild weather the color lasts for weeks.
These are growing between the woods and the old house site, together with some wild blueberry.

The asters are at their peak too. This sweet nameless aster appeared in the middle of the Carolina rose.

The low-growing aromatic aster is covered in blue-violet flowers.

The daisy mums are in full bloom as well. This is 'Venus', which I fell in
love with after seeing it at the local university arboretum several years ago.

The swamp sunflowers are still lighting up the garden with their golden flowers

and the pineapple sage is attracting clouds of sulfur butterflies.

Crinum 'Royal White', a fall-blooming crinum, still putting up scapes of flowers after every rain.

For more Blooming Friday posts, visit Katarina at roses and stuff.

Camera Critters October 24, 2009

Who's the rottenest of them all? :)

On our farm the award goes to He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Ignored, otherwise known as Tommy.

To see more critters of all sorts, visit Camera Critters!