Garden Fun in the Sun

It was a beautiful day to be in the garden. I did some weeding, planted a few plants, watered all the plants that are still in pots and took a few pictures in the garden. It's not often that I actually catch a butterfly with the camera, but this tiger swallowtail was so interested in the pink painted daisy that he ignored me. Look how fuzzy he is.
I also cut catnip for drying. It's a.regular thing for me to cut catnip on a dry day. I use it to stuff catnip mice that I knit. You can see them here!

Ed  pulled weeds, planted plants, cut the scapes off half his garlic, took cuttings of a pink wild rose, hilled the fall planted potatoes, and mowed the grass. We both had a very happy day in the garden.

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.

Busy Bee Balm

Yesterday was a very busy garden day. The pea vines were pulled and the last of the peas harvested. Blueberries, and the peas not slated for dinner went into the freezer. The last of the garlic is in the basement for curing. It's starting to dry down a bit. I'm really glad because the strong garlic smell down there was starting to make me queasy.

I finished the dishes from the vegetable freezing and gazed out the window. There dancing over, on, and around the bee balm were a half a dozen tiger swallowtails. What a delight they are to watch! They lured me out into the heat with my camera in hand. I took quite a few pictures and did get one of a slightly ragged tiger. I totally understand why they used to go out with a net and a killing jar, but my butterflies are free!

Another bee balm lover is this humming bird moth. These little guys by themselves are enough to make a person plant bee balm. If you have never seen one you are missing something way cool! There were several of them whizzing around along with a lot of bumblebees. In spite of the name, bee balm, the flowers are too deep for honey bees to collect nectar.

The red strain of bee balm is really magnificent. The humming birds keep everyone else away. They are territorial and the red is theirs. Imagine what it would be like to have a hummingbird after you if you were a butterfly. It would be like a dog fight between a jet and a glider. If humming birds and butterflies are your thing bee balm (Monarda) is a must have!