View allAll Photos Tagged Summer2017
Brad Pitt, Ziva David and Shelly-Ann are astonished by the new heatwave with high level of humidity from North Africa that arrived here.
They will have much fun with more insects....I won't.
The Gatekeeper, also known as the Hedge Brown, is a golden butterfly that provides a welcome sight in the middle of summer, when the fresh adults start to emerge. This butterfly spends much of its time basking with wings open, when the sexes are easy to tell apart - only the male has the distinctive sex brands on the forewings. In England and Wales this common and widespread species is found south of a line between Westmorland in the west and South-east Yorkshire in the east. In Ireland it is confined to coastal areas of the south and south-east counties. The butterfly is also found in the Channel Islands, but is absent from Scotland and the Isle of Man. The habitat this butterfly requires is found over most of the British Isles, and so we can only assume that the restriction to its range is governed primarily by climate. Colonies vary greatly in size, depending on the available habitat, ranging from a few dozen individuals to several thousand.
I always get these bugs on the butterfly weed, but they don't really seem to hurt the plant. Usually there are dozens of them.
On the Lollipop Verbena in my garden. This Verbena is wonderful as it attracts butterflies and Goldfinches, but has become a bit thuggish. It has spread all over the flowers beds (that's fine) but is popping up in the lawn as well. I've been giving it away but still have tons of it!
The butterflies have been scarce this year. I happy whenever I see them in my garden! This female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was enjoying the Lollipop Verbena.
It has been very hot here the last week or so with heat indexes into the 100s. Last night we had a huge thunderstorm including a tornado warning at 1:30 am!
After the blossom fades, the seed pod starts to form. This will ripen with the seeds quite visible. I really like this stage almost as much as the flowers!
The garlic chives are coming into bloom and they are a magnet for butterflies and pollinators!
It's been very hot here for a few days but starting tomorrow we will have about 5 days of wonderful weather! I need to get back out in the garden- the weeds don't mind the heat!
Not sure what variety of Skipper this is so ID would be appreciated!
This little toad was hopping around by our garage the other night. I grabbed a flashlight and took his picture. He's about 2" long-the picture is about actual size. I love to see toads in the yard- they help control insects!!
Common Whitetail in my garden. I have dozens of these on patrol all day, every day. I watch them zooming around taking care of any mosquito issues that might arise! This one landed for a moment where I could zoom in and get a shot while I was watering.