while I was planting and weeding, and harvesting potatoes, carrots, strawberries, and a few small turnips....I saw this Western swallowtail resting...on the lobelia....
(Papilio rutulus)
I think he had a bit of a run - in with a bird who bit his tails off.....
and I doubt he'll fly again.
Rudbeckia....
the ladybug population could not keep up with the aphids this summer, so I sprayed a mixture of kitchen dish soap with a lot of water...and that did the trick (aphid death)...with no damage to my sunflowers and nasturtiums....which are notorious for being aphidmagnets...
the evening sun shines on the houses across the street....
and the clouding sky.....
