Deanna's Flowers

There is a wildflower garden near me, one I quite enjoy this time of year. Its chief bounty is a thick stand of Bachelor's Button, also called the Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus).



Although most of these are blue, there are a few other colors sprinkled in, like this mostly white one.



Purple ones make an occasional appearance.



A pink specimen hosts a flying passer-by.



Butterflies find Deanna's flowers to be good flitting (is that a word?) grounds.



Perhaps someone can comment and identify these butterflies.






Aside from a regular clientele of butterflies, various bees utilize them.



This is a Honeybee (Apis mellifera).



And this is good - last I heard, Kansas was a having a bee shortage.



It's amazing how close bees will let you come to them.



The Honeybee is the state insect of Kansas, by the way.



The red eyes of this Green Bottle fly (Lucilia caesar) were a nice accent. It's funny how something so annoying in your home can be like a flying jewel outside in the sun. In reading about the Green Bottle fly, I am surprised it was attracted to Bachelor's Buttons, as I read in quite a few places that it was attracted only to rather unpleasantly smelly flowers (among other nastier things) and the Bachelor's Buttons have no odor that I can discern.



And where is this garden?



It's the front lawn of one of my neighbors. Unfortunately, the city of Hutchinson, KS, has often complained about it over the years. Ironic, you know, that in an age of falling water tables, her drought-tolerant lawn is sometimes seen as such a pariah.



Ace and I think she's just ahead of her time.