I love agastache. I have Black Adder, Blue Fortune and Golden Jubilee. I think the color of the Black Adder flowers is especially nice. I wish the other colors were hardy here...I'd have them all.

I have Golden Jubilee, Purple Haze, and Tutti-Frutti. The pollinators love them all.

Mine are often covered in butterflies as well. And these are the all-time ultimate low maintenance, long-blooming perennials in my opinion. You just stick 'em in the dirt and leave them alone.

Texas is tough on Agastaches. I have a Summer Love that has been in-ground for three years, but it struggles to make it through the worst of our heat and drought. Have another gritty little guy that I think is Black Adder, but it has been several years and has never gotten large enough to bloom. Might do a lot better if I moved it.

Wow, I thought agastache could deal with anything. I extend my sympathies if it won't work for you. I don't believe I have ever watered mine, other than when newly planted, and we have had some degree of drought here for a few years up until this summer.

Not with Texas' extra-hot summers and extra-low rainfall the last four years. We are more than 11 inches below normal for the year and close to 40 inches below normal for the last 40 months.

That's severe. I can only imagine how hard that is on gardens and pretty much every living thing.

I have a few varieties and I have to water them--not near as much as water pigs like the grass mind you, but a bit more more than I originally thought that I 'should' have to ...

Hazeleyes--love your overgrown field and its bugs! As much as I detest my grasshoppers and all the damage they do, I must say that is a great shot of that voracious vandal

Ronnie, those are all fantastic!
call the super sleuth, Janet--

@JRsbugs, we have a special request for ID of the colorful bug in photo 5 of this post http://garden.org/thread/view_...
but I'd like to know what the others are, too, when and if you get a chance, please and thank you

5th photo is a Graphocephala sp. but they vary and it depends on which species is likely to be in the area, see comments in link below ..

http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

1st beetle is an Alaus sp., again there's several which are similar but could depend on location ..

http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

3rd bug is a katydid nymph, there's too many to say which ..

http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

4th is a Plume moth possibly an Emmelina sp.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

6th is a hummingbird clearwing moth which looks like Hemaris thysbe ..

http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

http://bugguide.net/node/view/...

http://www.butterfliesandmoths...

Wow, super sleuth is right. Impressive!

Thanks Janet I only new the hummingbird moth. We call the plume moth fairies in our yard

dirtdorphins said:

• Fameflower (Phemeranthus calycinus)
• Uploaded by dirtdorphins

What gorgeous, bright blooms Dirt!

I put in a request for a bug/butterfly ID forum if anyone wants to go and voice their opinions and ideas

The thread "Bug/butterfly ID forum?" in Site Talk forum

That is one intriguing green spider--and I don't LIKE spiders!

OH I like spiders But of course only outside the house! I like snakes too

I found a nice brown garden snake today when digging in a new bed. And worms. I like both--in the garden.

I like spiders and snakes--the poisonous ones creep me out a bit but I am still quite fascinated by them. That is a stellar spider face!

Here are a couple pics of my mantis buddy from this evening. She is very well fed! I need like 100 of her, so I hope that she is a she and lays some eggs. I keep calling her a girl--like that will help


These bright bee magnets are phemeranthus, or fame flower. It is an absolutely awesome succulent for hot, dry places. The flowers only open in the afternoon so it is a great one to see when I get home from work. It reseeds rather freely and it blooms fairly consistently all summer--I love it!


sorry I don't have a picture of its little, spikey succulent leaves that are only about 3-4 inches tall --I should really go get one. Well, here's one you can kinda see 'em at the bottom...