The list of gems in my garden are numerous today.
Swamp Hibiscus, also more elegantly called the Texas Star:
Mexican Flame Vine:
Wild petunia (Ruellia humilis) growing everywhere there is little shade and moisture in my yard. What a pretty little native. Just love those free native flowers, showing up all by themselves.
Caged sunshine – a jewel none-the-less. The top of the garden is open, but we won’t tell it. 🙂 Soon the songbirds will find it and pilfer all the fat sunflower seeds from it’s heart.
A baby praying mantis. A definite treasure here in the veggie patch, diligently keeping parasitic bugs under control.
An Esparenza bloom (Yellow Bells). A true and trusted, drought tolerant mass bloomer, no matter how blistering it gets….all summer long.
Tropical water lilies. 
A tufted titmouse and cardinal sharing a convenient perch while enjoying the cool, gentle splashes from the sprinkler. 
The jewels of the pond:
Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) , another lovely little native blooming all willy nilly on my land. 🙂
Another cardinal (perhaps the same one) having found a new perch in the back yard:
A mockingbird, without whom the garden would be a silent place, lacking its crystal clear cheerful song all year long.
Tropical night bloomers. What a color!
The jewels of the sky, a female hummingbird.
A majestic stand of towering spires of Canna in the bog.
And the old garden mainstay – Echinacea, blooming a cheerful pink:
There is so much more. We are forecast to get some more rain today, and my trees and plants are probably thrilled.
