A plant near the pond, this Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, opens its lavender petals for welcomed business.
Then a pollinator lands. Busy and beautiful, this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio glaucus, sips nectar from the blooms before moving on to other plants also offering sustenance.
One event in the longer story of a garden.
What’s your garden’s story? Linking today with Flutter and Hum and its Wednesday Vignette. Happy gardening!
Besides being garden head-turners and absurdly easy perennial growers, Purple coneflowers, Echinacea purpurea, are also some of the best wildlife plants in any home garden. Now, as Central Texas enters its mid-spring-into-summer bloom period, coneflowers are reaching their zenith of beauty and bounty. Everyone visiting wants a meal at Cafe Coneflower.
Enjoying a coneflower is a plain little Dun Skipper, Euphyes vestris. According to Austin Bug Collection, a local Austin insect resource, the males of the species show no demonstrable markings, but the females have a few spots on the forewings.
And so they do!
Another of the many skippers endemic in this region is the Julia’s Skipper, Nastra julia.
Both of these skippers individually enjoy Purple coneflowers,
…and as dining companions at Cafe Coneflower.
Texan Crescents, Anthanassa texana, are all over the garden, all the time, but they always check out the coneflowers for a good nectar snack.
This Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes, heads for Coneflower Cafe whenever he/she is out-and-about, typically during sunshine-drenched afternoons.
Of course, honeybees will always be found partaking a good nectar meal.
It’s easy to catch a Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta, dining on flowers in the garden, but right now, it’s all about coneflower cuisine for these friendly pollinators.
They move around the flower during nectaring, so it’s easy to glimpse the various sides of their wings.
It’s not only the butterflies and honeybees who like coneflowers, though.
A Spot-sided Coreid, Hypselonotus punctiventris, worked the coneflower one morning. BugGuide calls this bug a Spot-sided coreid, but Austin Bug Collection says that this common coreid to Central Texas has no common name.
I’ll call him handsome and leave it at that.
This Leaf-footed bug, Acanthocephala femorata, posed impressively on his coneflower plinth.
I think these bugs are charming, though a little intimidating because of their size. But I can’t question this one’s affinity for the coneflower–it’s something we share in common.
As the blooms fade, the birds and some mammals will also reap nutritious rewards through the seeds from this valuable perennial.
I appreciate the beauty coneflowers bring to the garden, the critters like the bounty.
A win-win for all, I’d say.
Celebrating blooming things with Carol of May Dreams Gardens on this last Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day of 2014, I’d like to share some currently flourishing flowers from my gardens. It’s been mild here in Austin, Texas, though a few light frosts have come our way, none were significantly cold enough to dampen the blossoming spirit.
Wonderful native perennials continue strutting their blooming stuff late this growing season. Two native salvia species are providing nice nectar sources for passing bees and butterflies and a color show for the resident gardener. The Tropical Sage, Salvia coccinea,
…brightens the garden with its scarlet blooms, while Henry Duelberg salvia, Salvia farinacea, ‘Henry Duelberg’ provides spikes of blue.
Planted near to those two perennials is a group of Texas Craglily, Echeandia texensis.
There are few blooms left, but many seed pods readying for future golden lily loveliness.
Some of my Goldeneye, Viguiera dentata, still bloom. 
I don’t really think I need to add anything to that! These individuals face west and receive the warmth of the afternoon autumn sun.
A few Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus, flowers grace the gardens as well.
I don’t recall ever seeing this plant bloom so late before–I’m not complaining.
Native to areas west of Texas, but not specifically Austin, is the Globe Mallow, Sphaeralcea ambigua.
In my gardens it’s a reliable cool season bloomer–at least through the beginning of summer. The one mature Globe Mallow in my gardens is beginning a nice bloom production and that’s likely to happen throughout winter.
There are always a few Purple Coneflowers, Echinacea purpurea, charming the gardens. This one is planted with an unknown variety of basil-in-bloom,
…which I’d know the name of if I’d bothered to keep the tag. Ahem.
And here, Coneflower is partnered with the equally sweet Four-nerve Daisy or Hymenoxys, Tetraneuris scaposa.
I love native Texas plants.
As for the non-natives, well, they’re pretty cool, too. The Firecracker or Coral Plant, Russelia equisetiformis, requires a hard freeze to knock it back.
Obviously that hasn’t happened yet.
I feel good about this plant–it has such a tropical look, but in reality it’s water-wise and tolerant of the cooler season.
Roses are responding in kind to our temperate December by blossoming again. Whoop!
Glorious in vibrant red are these blooms of the Old Gay Hill rose.
Finally, the Potato Vine, Solanum laxum, has entered its bloom time. This vine twines up one side of my swing beam and blossoms primarily in the cool months here in Austin. It’s a timid vine in my garden, never growing too large. I forget about it during our long, warm growing season–it’s there, but unimpressive. Once the temperatures cool, its lovely clusters of dainty, creamy-bell flowers provide interest for my honeybees, still foraging on warm afternoons.
Enjoy whatever blooms you have–indoors or out. Then check out the many bloom posts by visiting May Dreams Gardens.
My Gardener Says... 