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.

Missouri Evening Primrose

The 4" in diameter blooms make this one of the most magnificent flowers of the prairie. Plant this one in the hottest, driest location and it will thrive. This is a definite requirement in everyone's garden.

Gromwell or Marbleseed

I just love the name gromwell. This member of the borage family adds interesting texture to a dry prairie garden. It likes dry soil and is very drought tolerant. Bees also love this plant.

Prairie Spiderwort or Ohio Spiderwort

One of the few blue flowering plants of the Kansas tallgrass prairie, ohio spiderwort shines in my garden. Each flower only lasts one day (it's a member of the dayflower family), but it keeps blooming for about a month. The flowers are only open in the morning. Blossoms can be used in salads. Everyone should grow this plant in their gardens!

White Wild Indigo Blooming

One of my favorite native wildflowers of the Kansas prairie, White Wild Indigo is the last of my wildflowers to come out of the ground. When it first comes up, it looks similar to a spear of asparagus. These are very long lived plants. From seedling to bloom takes about five years, but it's worth the wait.