The heat seems to have forced many butterflies to take cover but the whites have been out & about.. This shot is of a green-veined white butterfly taking shelter in the hedgerow fern

#InMyGarden #SaveButterflies #lepidoptera #macro #macros #GreenVeinedWhite #Butterfly #butterflyconservation

#silentsunday #spring #skink #sunshine #InMyGarden

Change and decay
Life and death
Comma butterfly probably newly emerged from its pupa silently sips on the juice of an apple in advanced stage of decay

#SilentSunday
#AutumnVibes
#InMyGardenToday
#InMyGarden
#CommaButterfly #Butterfly #SaveButterflies
#ButterflyConservation
#Autumn

Probably my fav moth seen #InMyGarden - though rare - is the Gold Spot. I’m looking out for it as September approaches. I did get a pic of one last year, as you see. It has a great name. Plusia festucae - presumably bec it looks like a rich jewel (as in Greek ‘plousios’, rich) & likes a habitat of tufted-grass (festuca).
It also likes damp habitats, exactly as my garden is now after weeks of rainy days. 🌧️

#moths #lepidoptery #GoldSpotMoth #GayGardener #MothsOfMastodon #macro #macroPhotography

Coccum ‘scarlet dye’ is probably behind the name of a most interesting plant #InMyGarden. On bright days the sun shines thru its purple leaves & they appear scarlet. It’s the ‘cotinus coggygria’, a variety of Smoke Bush. Earlier in the summer it was in flower, like smokey puffs rising in the hot air. I love its dark charcoal leaves edged with red.
The name ‘Cotinus’ goes back to proto-Greek days, maybe a wild olive tree in Iron Age S. Europe.

#Cotinus #SmokeBush #GayGarden #Gardener #coccum

More late-blooming plants in the garden. This is Ligularaia dentata. The first two photos are of cultivar ‘Desdemona’ and the third photo is ‘Britt Marie Crawford’. Big, bold foliage emerges very dark bronze and greens somewhat over the season, then these brilliant orangey yellow blooms appear in late summer that seem so at odds with the broody demeanor of the leaves. Likes moist to wet soil, part shade. USDA zones 4-9.

#garden
#gardening
#GardeningMastodon
#InMyGarden
#BloomScrolling
#PNW

Today’s haul: three biggish tomatoes, a bunch of little ones, and five chicken fruits.

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#gardening
#GardeningMastodon
#InMyGarden
#chickens
#PNW

August is kind of a wind-down time in my garden. One thing that’s blooming now is Francoa ramosa, one of my favorites. Chilean bridal wreath is a common name (which it shares with its more petite sister species, Francoa sonchifolia). Partially evergreen in part to light shade, USDA zone 7, easy to grow but hard to find. Good pollinator plants can be a rarity in the shade garden, but this is one of them.

#garden
#gardening
#GardeningMastodon
#InMyGarden
#BloomScrolling
#PNW

This morning my husband got to work on the rosemary hedge by the path leading to our front door. It’s part of #HerbesDeProvence garden design to remind me of my life long ago in the Vaucluse, France. The path was almost impassible with this year’s growth. About half is now in a bulk bag ready to go in the car to the recycle centre. The scent of rosemary is everywhere. The car will be smell wonderful!
#InMyGarden #Herbs #rosemary #today #GayGardener #GayGarden #gardening #Vaucluse #Provence

What used to be a grow-your-own veggie patch is now a building site as the extension gets underway. The fruit trees at the back are intact. But the only veg to have given us food this summer is the rhubarb - but is has been plentiful.
#rhubarb #GrowYourOwn #VegetableGarden #GayGardener #GayGarden #BuildingSite #GrowYourOwnFood
#InMyGarden

Never plant just one lily. They love company. And if you’re going to go gaudy, just embrace it and be really gaudy. These are stargazers. They are in my front yard and the fragrance is overwhelming.

#garden
#gardening
#GardeningMastodon
#InMyGarden
#BloomScrolling
#PNW

It's taken a while, but my first zinnia flower is blooming. I planted seeds late this year.

#MyGardenToday #InMyGarden #garden #BloomScrolling

Here’s what’s blooming in my garden now. Eucomis, or pineapple lily, native to South Africa. This cultivar is called “sparkling burgundy” and it’s one of the larger varieties. The new foliage has a strong burgundy hue that turns green over the season. Their sprawling habit can make them a challenge to place in a mixed border. I’ve moved these several times and now I’ve just got them on their own. Zone 7, part/full sun.

#garden
#gardening
#GardeningMastodon
#InMyGarden
#BloomScrolling
#PNW

Well it’s the end of raspberry season, the start of tomato season and ZOMG I guess it’s green bean season

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#gardening
#GardeningMastodon
#InMyGarden
#PNW

There are many, many species in this family but they usually look a bit like a honeybee but colored a bit differently and they’re fairly quiet and solitary. In my garden they seem to like rhodie and azalea leaves and also wisteria. First time I saw one I had no idea such things existed and I remember just standing there dumbfounded as it used its jaws like scissors to cut a perfect circle then flew off with it.
2/2

#gardening
#GardeningMastodon
#InMyGarden
#BloomScrolling
#PNW
#pollinators

If you happen to see leaves in your garden with these circular holes cut out of them, don’t fret: these are signs of leaf cutter bees. They actually cut circular discs of leaves to line their nests sometime between mid spring and mid summer. They’re vitally important pollinators and they are struggling. Tell them by the perfect circles they leave (1st image), as opposed to root weevil damage (2nd image).
1/2

#gardening
#GardeningMastodon
#InMyGarden
#BloomScrolling
#PNW

One my favorites, the often overlooked balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus x ‘Sentimental Blue’). These start out looking like little paper balloons, then they open up as shown here, then once they are spent each one looks like a little used tissue. It is native to Japan (“kikyo”) and if you pay attention you can see its five-petaled shape reproduced on all kinds of decorative textiles and ceramics.

#gardening
#GardeningMastodon
#InMyGarden
#BloomScrolling
#PNW

One of the old standbys in this part of the continent, Crocosmia. I’m not sure the variety—this clump came with the house and it’s at least 20 years old. We’re in partial shade so they flop a lot, but they still bloom and the hummingbirds still visit.

#garden
#gardening
#GardeningMastodon
#InMyGarden
#BloomScrolling
#PNW

Of everything in bloom right now in my garden, these are my favorite—and the hardest to photograph. Francoa sonchifolia, sometimes called Chilean bridal wreath, native to South America. Hardy to zone 7(?) and part sun. Semi-evergreen for me in zone 8b. I love the wands of flowers that sway in the breeze or under the weight of the bees that love them. And the lettuce-like basal foliage is hilarious.

#garden
#gardening
#GardeningMastodon
#InMyGarden
#PNW

We’re missing the veggie garden this year, as it’s become a temporary building site. So we’ve had to find ways of using what space we’ve got for growing our own food - like courgette plants in drainage pipes. They seem to like it….
#InMyGarden #gyo #GrowYourOwn #courgette #GayGarden #Gaygardener