Rainbow Swiss Chard

I had always wanted to try growing this, finally did this year, it is pretty, don't you think?  I did not eat any as I don't like swiss chard but have enjoyed seeing it in the garden and will grow it again.

Camera Critter Saturday

I have had lots of Painted Lady butterflies, I am not sure what kind of butterfly the last photo is.  A Hackberry Butterfly, maybe?  It was sitting on my basil.

Twilight Zone

Since Iowa had heat and humidity for two months, taking pictures was difficult, by the time my camera was at the outside temp and I could take photos without the lens steaming over I was so hot and cranky and out of the mood to take pics...........here are a few pictures I took while waiting for the camera to reach the outside temperature.

Ruby Tuesday

Mellow Yellow Monday

Another day of heat and humidity, they say this is the last day for a few days with lows tomorrow night in the 50s, sounds like heaven  to me.

Camera Critter Saturday

In my garden last week.

Cosmos

Cosmos, still one of the best flowers around.

Clivia

With so many plants blooming outside I hesitated to post these photos but my Clivia is in bloom again, the plant is over 15 years old and now blooms several times a year. It has two flower stalks.   I was finally able to afford a yellow one this year but it is a young plant and probably will not bloom for at least a couple of years.

Todays Flowers Yellow Coneflower

These were taken at Sweets Marsh in Iowa.  This is one Iowa's many beautiful prairie flowers, Yellow Coneflower-Ratibida Pinnata.

Camera Critter Saturday Rosie

All three doggies got new toys recently, Quasi-Boy the boxer is not all that interested, so Rosie always manages to get more than her share, at one point she had all 3 of the new toys but ended up with 2 of them.

Red Hibiscus

We had more rain again last night, another 1.5 inches, we are having flooding here in Iowa, hot and humid still, I do not remember another summer like this one. 

Today's Flowers Hibiscus

The pretty pink Hibiscus are in their full glory right now.  Guess what?  It is still hot and humid with a heat index of over 100...............I am so ready for fall.

Camera Critter Saturday - Dragon Fly

 We had one brief day from the heat and humidity.

I took this photo of a dragon fly at Sweets Marsh in Iowa, it is a huge preserve but most of the roads into it were so muddy we did not want to chance getting stuck. 

Tiger Lilies

We had another day in the tropics, oh, I mean Iowa...............wondering when I will see parrots flying around.