Butterfly Pavilion Los Angeles Museum of Natural History

Zebra Butterfly (Heliconius charitonius tuckeri)

Julia Butterfly (Dryas julia cillene)

White Peacock Butterfly (Anartia jatrophae)

Queen Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Pipe Vine Swallowtail (Papilio philenor)

Pipe Vine Flower (Aristolochia tomentosa)

Pipe Vine Flower Buds

Lunch Outside

Alexander Palm

The Alexander palm (Archontophoenix alexandre) blooms periodically throughout the year.

The flowers look like a sea creature.

They attract bees.

August Butterflies

If I sit in the garden for an hour on an August afternoon I can see seven different kinds of butterflies.  Other than the cabbage butterfly and the fritillary, some of them are:

Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus),

Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon),

Fiery Skipper (Hyephilia phyleus).

Fiery Skipper on a zinnia

In My Neighbor's Gardens:

deep blue agapanthus,

crinum lilies,

princess flower (Tibonuchina semidecandra),

lantana,

and bottlebrush.

Figs

The figs are getting ripe.  I will be fighting with the squirrels over them for the rest of the summer.  The first thing I make with the figs is ketchup.

Chop the figs into a large heavy pan.

Add onion, garlic, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt, powdered mustard and ginger.

Cook very slowly with the lid off for at least three hours until jam-like.

Puree mixture in the blender and pour into sterilized jars.

We eat the ketchup with oven roasted potatoes.

Moonflower

Moonflower (Ipomea alba) starts blooming in early evening and lasts only one night.