The Short List

If instead of a large garden I had only a tiny plot , purple cone flowers, Echinacea purpurea, would go right at the top of my short list of things to plant. The flowers are beautiful and last for a very long time. The plant habit is neat. I've even been known to make tea from the fresh leaves when I feel a cold coming on. These days there are all kinds of hybrids available, new colors, odd shapes. I like the old ones. How can one improve on such perfection?

Butterflies love this flower and get so busy drinking the nectar that it's actually easy to get a picture of them. You might notice some insect holes in the rays of the flower. With all the rain( thunder storms last night and more rain this morning) and humidity the bugs are soooo... happy. There's one of those evil Japanese beetles on the left edge of this very picture. They are out there having a beetle orgy on my asparagus fern right now. I'm generally a nonviolent person, but today I feel like getting a jar of soapy water to ping them into and going out to spoil their fun.