What a sighting from my back windows this afternoon! Lack of rainfall this summer has brought all kinds of wildlife to the water bowls I keep full around my yard this time of year. It’s been so hot I have to fill them twice daily! These young bucks were very shy and one glimpse of me through the window and they took off over the fence.

Summer has been dry but that has not stopped the wildlife around here. It’s a daily adventure walking around the yard to see what things are up to. Bumblebees have been all over the place. Some years they I barely see 2 or 3, but this year they have been active since May. A happy sight indeed.

The Rock Rose has been a helpful nectar source in dry times….

And a stunner, helping dress up the old ‘decorative’ log in the front path.

New varieties of Purslane were available at the garden cente.. I just couldn’t resist this candy colored one!

The picture below was taken in early summer. We’d had plenty of rain and everything was looking fresh and green. I have been experimenting with container plants this year. While this one looked pretty good that day, it was eaten down to the nub by the deer the very next morning. Grrrrr!

The fountain is a welcome gurgling attractant for the birds looking for a cooling bath. I made some good use of some blue-green broken glass I found.

New varieties of Coreopsis were purchased last year and I love them!

They flowered well into the end of July this year. I am hoping they will come back for a short fall display too.

Fragrant Passionflower was another splurge this year. However I only got to smell this guy once before a Gulf Fritillary butterfly laid its eggs on it and the caterpillars polished it off!
Within 2 weeks they had eaten this beauty all the way to the ground. It has recovered many times only to be eaten down again.

This is the newly hatched Gulf Fritillary and that stick used to have the plant growing on it. 😀

Spring blooms lasted well into summer this year, thanks to copious rains.

This lovely annual Winecup made a stunning display all they way to August.

And my pathways and driveway were a sight to behold! Now they’re all gone and only brown sticks remain.

Rock Penstemon was a beauty this year too!

And some amazing new-to-me dragonflies visited my pond. A Widow skimmer.

Such interesting shapes were everywhere!

And the waterlilies have been showing off. I have been fertilizing the heck out of them as an experiment this year. Twice a month as apposed to once monthly, and it has paid off.

The lotus has flowered 5 times this year.

And the night blooming waterlilies…well they speak for themselves.

Black swallowtail butterflies have been consistent residents this year due to the huge fennel I have growing in my veggie garden. I will have to cut it down this year as it is getting much too big for the garden. I have a younger one coming up for next years crop.

The ever present squirrels have found ways to amuse us and themselves….

And the Leopard frog population has rebounded by stunning amounts since late winter when all of them died in my pond due to the lack of sunlight and oxygen in the pond. All efforts to save them were in vain. Thankfully the tadpoles had survived without issue and they grew into these lovely creatures.

Just another display of lotus fabulousness….

Not to be outdone by the fireworks display of Nymphaea Frosted pink waterlily.

Gulf coast toads have also made a comeback this year. Such incredible singers on warm summer evenings. They have particularly loved all the potted plants on the patio this year, taking advantage of the water in the trays to stay cool during the heat of the midday sun.

He’s pretty much what I looked like after digging a hole for the new Youpon Holly going in the back field.