Garden Rising from the Dead

It rained this past week in the garden - Finally! My garden was about dried up and dead. So of course I had to take photos of the rain, because who knows when I will see it again? I feel a little weird taking photos of the rain - I am originally from Seattle where rain was never a problem - but now that I am a denizen of Austin, I find myself laughing hysterically and running around in circles like an idiot in the rain while snapping photos of the raindrops whenever mother nature turns on the faucet! What is wrong with me? *Sigh* Anyway, the garden is coming alive after the rains.

RAIN!



Pouring out the spout:



Filling up the drainage ditch:



Yellow Rain lilies along the side strip:



A little closer:



Pink rain lilies:



A Hibiscus I recently bought on impulse at HEB because it was just so pretty:



Echeveria blooms:



The insects have been going nuts this week after the rains.

Green Dragonfly:



Blue Dragonfly:



Queen butterflies mobbing the blue mistflower:



A closer look:



An Orb Weaver. I watched the hummingbirds hover near this web over and over and I could not figure out what the heck they were doing. I finally realized they were picking the insects from the spider's web! Better to let somebody else do the hard work and catch the insects for you. The spiders even wrap them up like little presents and hang them out for the hummingbirds to take their pick. How handy! The behavior of stealing food captured by other critters is known as Kleptoparasitism. I tried to get photos of the hummingbirds in action, but they were too fast! I will keep trying and hopefully post a photo of them stealing insects in the future:



Birds hanging out in the shade of the fountain catching a drink and a shower:



Native morning glory and Hot Lips salvia:



Russian Sage:



The Scarlet Runner bean, a hummingbird favorite, is flowering like mad after the rain:



Turks Cap - another hummingbird fave with that brilliant red: