This cheerful Iceberg Rose did better than usual this year due to adequate rains throughout spring and summer. It has begun another round of blossoming recently.
Rosa ‘Iceberg’
I would like to know what kind of little yellow spider this is hanging out on the Purple Coneflower. The front legs are positioned so it looks like it is trying to hide its face.
Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower)
The Autumn Joy Sedum attracted this insect today (a wasp of some kind?) and a few bumble bees as well.
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Herbstfreude) (Stonecrop)
The Sedum’s flowers are deepening from light pink to a darker shade as they age.
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Herbstfreude) (Stonecrop)
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Herbstfreude) (Stonecrop)
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Herbstfreude) (Stonecrop)
Meadow Sage has rebloomed now that night temperatures are cooler.
Meadow Sage ‘May Night’
The annual, Angelonia Purple, was a good investment this spring. Last year I used it in the meditation circle for color and interest, but it grew too wide. I frequently had to cut it back to maintain clear passage through the labyrinth. This year I placed Angelonia as filler in a few portions of the border where it had plenty of room. It has bloomed and bloomed and bloomed all summer and will last until frost.
Angelonia ‘Purple’
Iberis Sempervirens (Candytuft) died back during the hot summer but is returning with a fresh flush of new growth.
Iberis Sempervirens (Candytuft)
I am excited about a new purchase this week, a grayish-blue glazed ceramic urn to replace the periwinkle jar I had kept in the southern border since spring. The periwinkle pot will be returned to its indoor setting to keep it safe from the elements. The new urn required two strong men to carry to its current location so I did not get a chance to try it out in a lot of places before setting it down. For now I plan to leave it empty but may add an evergreen form to it later.
New Garden Urn
New Garden Urn
There have been numerous Eastern Tiger Swallowtails gracing the garden this summer, but few have been of this dark female form. Enjoying Lantana, this is the same butterfly in all the pictures, with color variations standing out depending on the aspect of the view.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
Sometime during Sunday night or early morning raindrops hit the window and I was awake enough to be grateful, knowing the garden had become very dry. The previous rain was on September 1 and since then, despite cooler temperatures at night, there have been some very hot days. Grass in the front yard has turned crispy brown and the River Birch has given up many leaves. The grass in the back yard where the garden is also has begun dying back in places.
By early afternoon when I had a chance to explore the garden there were no visible signs the rain had passed through, but perhaps the plants had already soaked up the nourishment by then.
Garden View From Southeast to Northwest
pbmGarden 
Beautiful photos! I especially like the one of the echinacea with the yellow spider. This cooler weather has me ready for fall, although I would certainly welcome some rain. I don’t want to use what’s left in my rain barrels because I still have tadpoles growing in there!
Thanks. The spider might be a crab spider but I’m not sure. Last week there was rain all around us but none at our house. Hope you’ll get some soon.
Love the new urn!
Jayme, it’s from So. States sale last week. Of course, I wanted a pair but settled for the one.
What wonderful photos of the Swallowtail! I really do like that new pot Susie… I have several blue pots that are frost hardy. We have Autumn Joy sedums too – it is a beautiful one and lives up to its name!
Cathy,that Swallowtail wouldn’t sit still a second for me to focus, but she was lovely. Glad you like the pot. It was an extravagance, even on sale, but there’s something about blue ones.
I didn’t see many black swallowtails this summer so it was fun to see yours.
So glad you enjoyed this one Carolyn. We had very few black ones this year also. Susie
A lot of beautiful Lantana you have. I wish I could plant them in the ground up here. Great butterfly photos too.
Thank you–the butterflies love it. I feel fortunate so many things like the Lantana winter over in zone 7b where I garden. I’d probably never get around to digging up/replanting anything.
Your butterfly is amazing, so beautiful! Your garden is a butterfly paradise, so many plants for them and the bees to enjoy. I like your new urn, the blue will look good among the flowers.
It’s fun to have butterflies visit the garden, though there has not been much variety this year. I remember a post you did with many different kinds of butterflies, all interesting and different from what I see normally. The Eastern Swallowtails have been the main ones here this year.
Bugguide has a spider very much like your little yellow spider that it IDs as a crab spider so I think you’ve probably got it right. So pretty with the Echinacea. nature always shows us the best color schemes if we just pay attention!
Thanks for taking time to help me identify the spider. If I thought of it at the time I could have nudged it gently. Crab spiders are supposed to walk like crabs.
Your swallowtail photos are marvelous! Butterflies have been so rare this year. The Angelonia and Meadow Sage look great also.
Thanks. We’ve had a larger number than usual of Swallowtails, but not other kinds of butterflies here. I am so happy to have the Angelonia and Meadow Sage–the garden has had way too much pink lately.
Love your new purchase, a really lovely blue. Your swallowtails are beautiful.
The urn looks great, I like how you have it with the gray lavender, juniper, and the orange lantana, it all blends nicely.
I can’t think of when I saw the last tiger swallowtail around here, I missed them this year.
Sorry you didn’t have swallowtails this year. We missed the bees around here this year.
Susie everything is looking great from blooms to butterflies!!
Thanks Donna!