Summer time flowers

Black-eyed Susans are one of my favorite flowers. They are perennials and will spread on their own.

I have a flower bed in the front of my house where I have been encouraging them to spread. They made some progress this year but it has been slow. The house faces north so the sun doesn't get over the house onto these beds until late morning. Black-eyed Susans would prefer full sunshine and thrive in open fields with lots of sun.

"The black-eyed Susan thrives in full sunshine. It tolerates partial sun, but it will not bloom as reliably." - the Farmer's Almanac describes it perfectly 🙁

I was inspired by @riyat's great butterfly photo in yesterdays Hotshots compilation Check it out. I always get ideas from the great photographers featured there. As you can tell from my Monarch butterfly pic, the silly little things like to move 😅 there is lots of milkweed in my part of the world that Monarch caterpillars love (require actually). Then the butterflies move on to be great pollinator. In our yard, they seem to especially like cone flowers.

While my beds on the north side of the house struggle for sunlight, the beds in back with southern exposure are having a great year. These hydrangea are thriving even though they are wedged between a star magnolia tree (which was also beautiful this year) and my screened in porch. According to the New York Times, its Hydrangea Hysteria this year 😍 Check out artice here

What's the point of killing yourself in the flower garden? This does it for me 😊