I need to get out my real camera, but in case I don’t get a chance to do that before the flowers pass, I wanted to capture where the blooms are right now. I’m enjoying watching everything fill in. I’ve got my fingers crossed that next year, when everything is a bit more established, it will begin to fill in more.
The bees, small butterflies, and hummingbirds were out in full force yesterday. Still not seeing many of the larger butterflies yet, though — the monarchs and swallowtails. I remember having to wait a long time for them last year as well.
We’ve got two bird feeders out back, which we love to watch. Birds are super active in the newly planted back hill, including ground birds like doves and robins. With the higher bird population, I fear for the poor caterpillars out there. Rue is generally covered in swallowtail caterpillars, and I’ve only seen one so far this year. I’m hoping with the variety and number of plants out there, they’ll be able to find some shelter and at least grow up to become butterflies.
Andrea's Gardening Blog 
Beautiful!
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Does the liatris die back completely after bloom? I know it only as a cut flower crop, but because I only worked with it as a summer job a very long time ago, I do not know what happened to it after harvest. It is only recently becoming popular for home gardening.
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I’m not sure! Last year was my first year having liatris, and after it flowered, it dried up completely and turned brown before summer even ended. I thought it was dead, but it came back this year.
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That is what I thought they were supposed to do, but not what I want them to do where we planted them. Someone else picked them out without talking to me first.
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