Starry Campion

This is a gorgeous flower that likes to grow in part shade.

I have these growing in my backyard. Aren't they attractive. GO NATIVES!

Another very attractive native wildflower. This one is similar to Cleome that many people grow. It's common name is Clammy-weed (Polanisia dodecandra). Insects love the flowers. It's an annual and reseeds nicely. An interesting characteristic is that the foliage smells exactly like green peppers!

Elm-leaf Goldenrod

One of Kansas' coolest goldenrods. I love the dainty flowers that form on long spires. These grow right in front of the house and they like shade.

Willow-leaf sunflower

Is this the most incredibly cool looking plant or what? The tips look like little fireworks displays. It also reminds me of something from Dr. Seuss. It's one of many Kansas sunflower species. These are growing along my driveway.

Tiger swallowtail

You have to love native wildflowers and the insects they attract. This plant is Canada verbena (Glandularia canadensis). It has the sweetest scent. The butterfly is a tiger swallowtail. Difficult to get a decent picture, but I like this one.

Hybrid Verbena in my garden

I was amazed by how gorgeous this swamp verbena was earlier this spring. But after some thought, and reading about verbenas hybridizing, I thought this might be the case. It turns out it is a hybrid between Verbena simplex and Verbena hastata. It bloomed about the same time as Verbena simplex but had flowers more like Verbena hastata but even showier.

Round-headed Bushclover leaves

It's always fun to look at water droplets on plants, but these were just incredible. The plant is Round-headed bush clover. Because the leaves have fine hairs on them it caused the droplets to form as they did. The fold in the leaf seems to have kept them in place.