I was busy taking adoring photos of my sweet peas last week (and I am embarrassed to say just how many) when I noticed the flicker of a jewel color on one of them. Sometimes even flies have iridescence, and so I ignored it until the flicker kept moving. Thankfully, this beautiful little creature had patience on me, as I crept closer. I'd never seen this butterfly before, the male Purple Hairstreak, but thanks to butterfly siting galleries i was able to identify him and his nearby friend who was also resting very contentedly on a sweet pea flower. And...…

A year after we were married we and a group of friends walked on an ancient pilgrimage path in northern Spain. Just before our arrival in Pamplona, we passed by a fence that was covered in passionflower vines. I stopped the entire group--about 12 of us--to marvel at just one of the flowers. All those tricks, special tricks, wheels and spins. It was a theatrical flower. Each bloom could've been a circus if it wasn't purple. After moving to Texas, I was surprised to learn that passionflowers were native here; I'd never seen anything like them in the midwest. So...…

When I received my first wildflower seed catalog, gaura (also known as "Appleblossom Grass") was the first plant I fell in love with. I sowed the native Texas variety from seed last fall (which is showing leaves in various parts of my yard now). "Siskyou Pink" is the first variety I planted, in spring of 2006, in my very first garden bed, which has now become my wildflower bed. It is supposed to be a hardy plant in summer but many perennials disappeared in the summer heat of August and September which still have not reappeared. I was surprised to...…