Dogwood Patch - A Garden

It certainly pays to keep records -- The Eastern Swallowtail butterfly has been in counties all around us -- Knew our time was getting near -- So, last year on July 5, 2016 -- The first one appeared ( but an hour later ) -- Today -- One ETS -- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail -- In the yard -- Along with Carpenter bees and Skippers -- And the elusive Hummingbird ! What a great start for the day -- ** 4 notes ** © All Rights Reserved

Cosmos Zinnias False Sunflowers Red Pink Fuschia Yellow Gold Orange and all in between ! Courtesy of Mother Nature ... 2017 What I left out (not meaning to) - all these flowers were gifts. The yellow False Sunflower seeds from Oklahoma - our own Pam J. Cosmos of orange and yellow - seeds from NotMyGarden, Down The Road .. a wonderful man who enjoys changing his garden yearly .. Zinnias -- packet of seeds from Pam J which re-seeded .. all these flowers re-seed here. The hardest part is thinning them out !

in each photo, there is a visitor of some sort .. pollinators galore enjoying False Sunflowers of yellow .. Zinnias of pink .. Cosmos of orange and yellow .. Viburnum clusters .. and Turk's-Cap Lily .. each has a reason to be here .. in the Garden of Surprises and also The Dogwood Patch - A Garden .. 2017 © All Rights Reserved

- perched in the top of a Dogwood - Mr. Finch is always watching - letting his Lady know if there is anything to be concerned about - probably wondering - why is that lady sitting there - maybe this will the be 'pose' she wants © All Rights Reserved

over under the Dogwood trees grow Cosmos (seeds gifted by the Gardener Down The Road)- this one has a guest - ***1 Note ** taken just before this photo just seconds apart ... © All Rights Reserved

a tasty False Sunflower - this little fellow was camped out on one flower - oblivious to anything else going on -

or maybe not - American Lady on a False Sunflower - Having a feeding frenzy with Sunflowers, Zinnias and even Ditch Lily group - Some shots are blurry - What do you expect when the person holding the camera is so excited ? Ah, what a Day ! * 3 notes across Top * © All Rights Reserved

Skippers and Zinnias are made for each other .. Zinnia opens her petals to capture rays of the sun .. And the Skipper checks out the nectar / pollen supply .. This is in The Dogwood Patch .. Home of Zinnias, False Sunflowers and Cosmos .. Waiting to greet Butterflies ! ! ! © All Rights Reserved

next to the drive are three Dogwood trees - white, pink and a red - this area has been named ''The Dogwood Patch'' - (so I won't say 'oh, that is the Garden of Surprises' -) otherwise known as the '' Butterfly Magnet '' - since False Sunflowers (all the way from Oklahoma) were planted in this area - Zinnias were gifted last year and grew like mad (they also self-seed) - Cosmos of orange and of yellow were also seed gifts from the Gardener Down the Road - this Day Lily was a resident - she is a Tawney Lily know not what roads she wandered to get here - but, last year she looked different - got to do some research on 2016 photos - but, Spiderwort - grows and do really think it followed me from Florida, Dick ! expect Lantana to show up one day (or as I called it Florida) .. Carlos Santana Lantana - © All Rights Reserved