Of course there are photos and video of the hummingbird banding that we attended this morning, but I had to change feeders tonight, so I haven’t had time to sort them, and will post later. In the meantime…

Immature male Eastern Pondhawk. I didn’t see a single one of these last year, but I’ve seen a few this year without even really looking. I’m not heartbroken–they’re a favourite!

I thought these looked like honeyvine milkweed, but wasn’t 100% sure they weren’t wild buckwheat.

I lifted a leaf to look for the sheaths on the petioles that would be present on wild buckwheat, but not on honeyvine, and I got my answer because these are Aphis nerii, which feed on milkweeds, but not on wild buckwheat!

I probably should get rid of this…

The vervain that had been dying in the hanging pot is doing much better in the bigger pot. Apparently, having soil instead of just a pot full of roots is healthy for a plant. Who knew?

These are the pink Wave ‘toonyas that I planted just a couple of weeks ago. I’ve seen MLBs and bees at them, and they really do well in hanging pots, even in full sun, so I think I’ll get some next year, too.

The pink annual salvia I got early in the spring is another one I think I’ll plant again next year. I’ve seen hummingbirds and bees at that as well, and it’s survived being drowned with all the rain we had in June, and then being cooked with little rain. Tough stuff, and it’s kept blooming like crazy all along.

It’s a little blurry because I was losing light, but when I was checking out the Grey Stick’s blooms, I found a little crab spider. I didn’t even see the green stinker until I looked at the photo. I’ll take a twofer even if it’s a bit blurry.