flowers in bloom

A lot of flowers and plants around the yard have finished their blooming but there are others that are just reaching their peak.

Rudbeckia or Black Eyed Susans.  These are so dependable. They show up every year and bloom for weeks.

White and Purple Garden Phlox. These would have been blooming earlier but the deer kept pruning them back. The white ones are well behaved but those purple ones are really aggressive spreaders...by seeding and by forming huge nutrient hogging clumps. I have to pull a lot of them up or they will choke out other stuff. 

Buddleia or Butterfly Bush. Slow to get started in the spring but then they bloom late into the fall. I have tried and tried to get some nice butterfly pictures but they either fly away or they just won't pose for the camera.

Naked Lillies or Naked Ladies or sometimes called Resurrection Lillies.  The foliage comes up in spring, then disappears...months later these blooms appear on fast growing stalks.

This is a weed I guess. It came up in the bare spot where the horse barn was torn down.

I pried open the flower to have a look. Does anyone know what this is called? Pretty leaves and pretty flowers.  I think a long row of them would look be an attractive planting. Why not work with the stuff that's easy to grow instead of plants we have to baby along?.

There are a couple of puckered little apricots on the apricot tree. It really doesn't get enough sun. It was here when we moved here...planted near a sycamore tree. It's been a survivor.. Either the squirrels are picking the apricots or they just fall off without ripening.

This is most definitely a weed - Pokeweed.   Poisonous to humans and farm animals, but look at those beautiful colors! Birds eat the berries...and spread the seeds in their droppings.

Gosh, I have lots of other weeds that aren't so pretty! With the rain we've had they are thriving!  I like pulling them, though. It's a job where you can see that you're making progress.