We saw on the news last night that a year ago this was the start of our 40+ days above 100 then a one day break and then 30 some more. This year, hot, humid, thunderstorms, very, very different. Nice from the gardening standpoint but I sure didn't miss the humidity last year!

A few more fun garden things:

Clematis pitcheri

Another native clematis Doesn't look too impressive yet but

anytime I can get a perennial to bloom its first year in the ground I'm happy!

Echinacea tenneseensis

A coneflower native to Tennessee

Eryngium yuccifolium

Rattle snake master

A carrot family plant masquerading as a yucca

Why you need a pair of fake eyes on your rear end!

This is a gray hairstreak whose fake eyes on the back apparently tricked a predator into grabbing the wrong end. Looks like this little guy had a close call

Mrs. B R Cant

She seems to be settling in just fine though I had to pick some caterpillars that were trying to defoliate her. I sent them over to the mutabilis, it would take a million cats to make a dent in that thing

Oenathera triloba

Stemless evening primrose

These are normally done by this time of year but it keeps raining so this one decided to keep blooming

Rudbeckia maxima

Giant coneflower

Now that's a big cone. This bumblebee doesn't seem to care that the petals have already fallen off

Rudbeckia texana

Texas coneflower

This one hasn't bloomed yet but I thought it was worth showing because this is all ONE plant. This is a native of the coastal prairie and only occurs in TX and LA. I can't wait for it to actually bloom, there must be 50 buds on it

Salvia ballotiflora

Shrubby blue sage

This is one of the sages that blooms after rain

Savlia sinaloensis

Biclor sage

I love the fact that you can see the bee landing zones on this one

Tithonia roduntifolia

Mexican sunflower

I grow the species not a named cultivar and it seems to do a lot better for me. Other people complain it gets too big and falls over and like the smaller cultivars better but I usually kill the cultivars and this one does OK. Probably has a lot to do with how much water they get