![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Tiger-swallowtail-640x504.jpg)
Butterflies are plentiful right now. Here are some I spotted in gardens and fields around town.
![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Caterpillar-640x545.jpg)
![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Buckeye-640x488.jpg)
![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Unidentified-633x640.jpg)
![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Fritillary-2-640x539.jpg)
The gulf fritillary supposedly is found mainly in Texas, Florida and the other southeastern states, and it’s usually not included in lists of Kansas butterflies. However, it’s common here, too.
![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Fritillary-1-379x640.jpg)
![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Fritillary-3-521x640.jpg)
![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Ceratotheca-triloba-2-594x640.jpg)
A friend gave me seeds of the African foxglove, Ceratotheca triloba. They were slow to germinate, but once up the plants grew rapidly. Mine are about four feet tall, and I expect they’ll eventually reach six.1 The plants tolerate hot and dry weather well, though they do appreciate an occasional sprinkle.
![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Ceratotheca-triloba-283x640.jpg)
![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Lilium-speciosum-rubrum-Uchida-1-640x568.jpg)
The first lily opened at the end of May. The last one is still blooming, over two and a half months later.
![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Thymophylla-tenuiloba-640x524.jpg)
Dahlberg daisy deserves to be much more popular. A native of Texas and Mexico, it doesn’t mind hot weather in the least and blooms prolifically when most plants have faded out.
![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dianthus-gratianopolitanus-640x313.jpg)
![](http://shuffly.net/zoop/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rudbeckia-subtomentosa-1-640x424.jpg)
Notes
- Ceratotheca is not a true foxglove but is a member of a different family, the Pedaliaceae, some members of which are notorious for unpleasant seed dispersal techniques (I am quite content to appreciate Uncarina at a distance in somebody else’s succulent collection).