Monday, July 19, 2010

Part of my front yard...

When I go out onto my front porch and look ever so slightly to the left, this is the scene that greets me. Admittedly, a certain amount of the plants out there are weeds, but others of them are there at least somewhat intentionally. The wooden building mostly hidden on the left is my chicken house.




The trees with white flowers are Crepe Myrtle. The row of five of them was there when we moved here. The line of stakes is my tomato plants in my vegetable garden. Also in the vegetable garden is a beautiful Tithonia rotundifolia (Mexican Sunflower) plant that reseeded itself. It is very popular with the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. This butterfly was actually more yellow than the picture makes it look. And look at the gorgeous blue on it.




There were 3 swallowtails on the Tithonia this morning. Can you find them?



One of the other plants that was here when we moved in was Tansy. When I lived in California, I used to read about Tansy when I was studying which plants would attract beneficial insects, so I was happy to have it.



It does spread and can definitely get weedy. Every year or so, I thin it out so it doesn't take over. I wonder if this is one of our honey bees?



I love Artemisia 'Powis Castle'. It is such a great plant. No flowers, but it has simply amazing foliage. And I like the pungent way it smells. The heirloom Purple Ruffles Basil has reseeded next to it and makes a stunning combination.


Have a beautiful day!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love the swallowtails! I am hoping to add more flowers for the butterflies and hummingbirds to my garden. You are such an inspiration!

~Anne~