Late August in my Garden

The Bougainvillea in my garden may have a few dormant periods during the year, depending on how dry it is, but it is usually blooming.

Other blooming plants are:Lemon Verbena (Aloysia citrodora,) native to South America,

Thunbergia alata, native to Eastern Africa,

and the Canna Lily, native to South America.

It is not a lily,

but in the ginger family.

This one is called the Picasso Canna Lily.

Tiger Swallowtail

A Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus) flew in to the Zinnias 

in my garden

on a breezy afternoon.

The breeze kept lifting up the butterfly's wings and so it spread them as flat as possible.

The Zinnias are full of nectar and sturdy

landing pad 

for butterflies.

Some Summer Insects

The Cosmos and Zinnias in my garden attract many kinds of insects (Hummingbirds too, like the Zinnias but I have not been able to get a photograph of them.)  This is a Green Fruit Beetle (Continus mutabilis,)

a juvenile Mediterranean Mantis (Iris oratoria,)

a Big Red Skimmer (Libellula saturata,)

the common Honey Bee (Apis mellifera,)

and the less common solitary bee with stripes more yellow than brown.

The Zinnias and Cosmos especially draw in the butterflies.  This one is a Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus,)

a Monarch (Danaus plexippus,)

and the most common is the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae.) There are sometimes two or three of them at a time  fluttering around the flowers.

Zinnias

Zinnias ( Zinnia elegans) are growing in pots alongside the Cosmos in the center of my garden.

Like the Cosmos, the Zinnias are native to Mexico.

The flowers are three

different

colors and 

they last 

for a long time.

Cosmos

Every spring I plant Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) from seeds.

I plant them in pots in the center of the garden where

they will get the most sun.

They are native to Mexico and like the sun and heat

and by August the plants are almost five feet tall.

They last a long time in a vase, so I always bring some in.

Early August in my Neighborhood

Heavenly Blue Morning Glory

Every year I plant Heavenly Blue Morning Glory seeds (Ipomoea purpurea).

By August the plants are in full bloom.

They spread along the top edge of the fence.