Female Black Swallowtail

http://www.texas-butterflies.com/black-swallowtail-butterfly.htm

Sipping Lantana nectar and laying eggs on parsley!

Caterpillars spotted Sept. 6

9-10-14 Sad update: baby caterpillars all gone this week. Became bird treats??
Next year more parsley! Maybe more caterpillars and some will make it.

8-21-14

Plumbago, mistflower, fennel blooms, orange mint, sweet potato vine, blue daze foliage. 

Next day Blue Daze blooms opened!

The Queen

Queen on the blue mistflower 8-19-14

This one is a male -- note the two dark spots on lower wings, which females do not have. 

"Male Queens crave this plant’s purple bloom, which provides them special nutrients that make them attractive to the lady butterflies." 

http://texasbutterflyranch.com/2014/08/09/pollinator-power-on-the-river-walk-garden-plot-transforms-to-creature-haven/

Leaf-footed Bug : (

Must be Acanthocephala terminalis(?) on the Russian Sage. I guess these could do some damage, but I've only seen one so am not concerned.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/16391

Blackfoot Daisy

Melampodium leucanthum

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MELE2

Crossvine

Bignonia capreolata 'Tangerine Beauty'

http://www.finegardening.com/tangerine-beauty-cross-vine-bignonia-capreolata-tangerine-beauty

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=BICA

Pigeonberry

Rivina humilis

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=RIHU2

Promise of Autumn

A hint of color on the Beautyberry! A sign of the coming Autumn is just what I need on these hot August days.  

Callicarpa americana 

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CAAM2

Lyreleaf Sage

Salvia lyrata

Salvia

'Victoria Blue' Salvia

  http://www.finegardening.com/mealycup-sage-salvia-farinacea-victoria

Mealybug + Mealybug Destroyer

More life on the butterfly weed.

A mealybug appeared...

...and I'm pretty sure this is the larva of a mealybug destroyer. At any rate, the mealybug has disappeared: 

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-15_ladybug_mealybug_destroyer.htm

http://www.eduwebs.org/bugs/mealybug_destroyers.htm

Adult?:

Last Day

Last white daylily of this summer.

'Royal Frosting'
http://www.perennials.com/plants/hemerocallis-royal-frosting.html

Millstone

Granddaddy's gristmill stone came to live at our house. 

First step to somewhere. 

Lacewing

Looks like we now have a trash-carrying lacewing larva on the butterfly weed along with all the other critters. 

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-13_green_lacewing.htm

8-16-14

Lacewing eggs on the butterfly weed!

Lacewing larva(?):

Sept. Lacewing adult. 

Texas Lantana

Lantana Horrida / Lantana urticoides

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LAUR2

Ruellia

 Ruellia brittoniana 'Katie' 

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/cemap/ruellia/ruellia.html

The tall Ruellia below is a volunteer that popped up in our gravel driveway. Has had intense West sun, scorching wind, and no irrigation. 

Coneflower

Echinacia 

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ECPU

Gregg's Mistflower

Eupatorium greggii//Conoclinium greggii

 https://npsot.org/TrinityForks/TrinityForksWeb/NICE/GreggsMistflower.pdf

Bronze Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpureum'

 

Bronze Fennel [planted in May] starting to bloom. 

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/285/

Sunday Posy

Blackfoot daisy, mistflower, plumbago, scabiosa, russian sage, catmint, sweet potato vine, crossvine (foliage), orange mint. It would have had one little white rose but I dropped it and the petals fell off. 

It's Hot Here

At least the Blackfoot Daisy doesn't seem to mind the 100-degree days in full sun. 

Posies

Inspiration and Help

http://www.pinterest.com/apartmentk/garden
http://threedogsinagarden.blogspot.com
http://www.danpearsonstudio.com/
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/danpearsonongardens

http://www.finegardening.com
http://www.dallasbutterflies.com/Butterfly%20Gardening/Gardening%20Main%20Page.htm
http://www.wildflower.org/plants
http://txsmartscape.com/plant_search/index.asp

http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/index.htm
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org

http://texasbutterflyranch.com/

Clematis

Baby clematis on the west side is trying to bloom against all odds.

Gulf Fritillary

August 2014, Gulf Fritillary visited lantana and coneflower.

http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Agraulis-vanillae

Empress Leilia(?)

I think it must be this one:
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Asterocampa-leilia

Beautiful Tiny Flies

(What are they?)