When I don’t have much crafting to post about, I can always count on my garden friends for content.

These little Geometer Moths are very common around here (the cats love to chase them in the catio at night) but this is the first time one has ever landed on my dress.

Not as common is this big guy…

Sadly, this is the best pic I could get in the waning light… but this is a Pandora Sphinx Moth! We’ve seen a few of these guys flying around this year – but only at night! And as you can tell by that day lily bloom he’s checking out – he’s a big one!

These little Northern Crescents are plentiful here (one of their host plants is asters, of which I have many, so that’s probably why)

And I’ve noticed they seem to prefer orange and yellow flowers.

I’d say the most plentiful butterfly this year have been Hackberry and Tawny Emperors.

For some reason they are often hanging upside down.

This is the first Fiery Skipper I’ve seen this year

All the Butterfly Bushes are in bloom, so I expect we’ll see more and more butterflies as the month rolls on.

The Monarchs have been here in full force for a couple months now. Though interestingly I haven’t seen that many caterpillars.

Same with the Cabbage Whites…

But thankfully, they haven’t seem to bother my cabbages!

As always, the spiders have been plentiful

Though most are pretty small. This lovely little Orb Weaver was smaller than a dime!

These guys are a fair bit bigger!

I know these Great Black Wasps make some people nervous, but I find them to be pretty gentle, happily going about their business. I love their shimmery blue wings.

Last, I’ll leave you with one of our favourite feathered friends…

The finches love the coneflowers! They look to big to be able to perch on those spikey cones.. but they aren’t! They serve as landing pad and snack station, all in one!