The Time Change, a Good Angle, and Veggie Flowers.

I probably won't be posting much or doing much more to the backyard for a while. Busy season has hit at work between that and the time change, I'm tired and there just isn't enough available light during the week. I have pictures to post of some new things in the garden and some old that I never managed to get posted...

Here is the bed near the house. I finally found a good angle. The Tecoma Stans is no longer flowering, but the bicolor sage and rock rose are on a daily basis.  In this area, I also planted chile piquin, pigeonberry, american beautyberry, a pentsemon (not sure what kind anymore), either mexican marigold or oregano. 

The cabbage lopers love the cauliflower. They did so much damage to the leaves I had to completely remove a bunch of them. Ah well, I wasn't sure I cared about garden fresh cauliflower because unlike broccoli which you can setup to harvest multiple flower crowns with cauliflower there is only one.

Check it out we have a little tiny broccoli flower. I wonder how long it takes until they get to the size you see broccoli crowns in the stores. I found a cabbage lopper having it's way with this one later in the day. I caught before it could do much damage though.

Plants to Attract Butterflies and other Insects

I bought a white mistflower and a blue mistflower because I saw a really beautiful white mistflower speciman at UT and from several yards away I could see the bees swarming it. I broke off a piece and took it to one of my supervisors who idd it right away. It smells strongly of honey. The "man" finds it overpowering. I brought home the sprig for him to smell. 

T and I went to the Ladybird Wildflower center this weekend and we saw masses of butterflies and bees and other insects all over the white mistflower. I'm becoming more and more enamored of the idea of attracting butterflies. It is definitely changing alot of my plants decisions. I had written down what I was planning on planting on the back fence and have scrapped that plan. I planted most of the back fence this morning. 

I will have to wait for a less sunny time of day or when these plants get large to really show them off. In the foreground is a Don's Dwarf Wax Myrtle. I was also contemplating getting a native yellow bells, but after seeing that it had a pot as big as the Dwarf Wax Myrtle I decided against it. I'm really glad I did. Digging the hole for this was hard, but I'm really happy with it. Next to it is a  Duranta Erecta "Sapphire Showers".

T and I went to "It's About Thyme" garden center and saw a plant with light orange/yellow berries turns out it was the Duranta Erecta "Sapphire Showers." It was so cool I decided to buy one, but not there. I'm afraid the place gave off a bad vibe. The plants didn't seem all that happy to me. They did have some really great metal garden art. T and I really like the tiny table and chairs. I was also fond of the metal bicycle plant holder. I just don't get how a place that looks so cool when you first walk in can become so not as you get into the main plant area. I also saw a lot of wasps which I am deathly allergic to always a signal to me to leave the area. I'm lucky we don't have wasps at the house.

Between the Duranta and Wax Myrtle, I planted a brazilian/mexican rock rose. Its flowers have a light pink petal with darker lines and a dark red center. Really beautiful, but I was able to get a good picture this morning with the way the light is. After the Duranta, I planted a dwarf barbadoes cherry. In the front near it I have two salvias, a magenta and a mealy blue. Then a butterfly bush. Another salvia "raspberry" and a blue mistflower.  Then a white mistflower and behind that a pineapple guava. I check the line of plants from several angles in the yard and I really love how they fit in with my other planted sections. Things are really coming together. I even saw a new butterfly this morning, one I have never seen before.

I need a better camera. I'm finding it impossible to take pictures of the smaller flowers and the bugs. You can barely make it out, but I saw this American Snout Butterfly (libytheana carinenta) on my Russian Sage. I was just telling the "Man" about insects with large snouts because I am reading the Orchid Thief by Susan Orleans for my book club and she mentions orchids with really long throats and insects that develop along with these orchids with really long noses/snouts.  So cool to see something this odd looking and in my garden, I'm really excited about what other butterflies I may see once everything is set up and growing fast and furiously.