It's true; summer is drawing to a close

The spring rains and prolonged greenness of the leaves have made this fall's showing of oxblood lilies (rhodophiala bifida) the very best ever. They appeared first farther up the hill, but our first batch is now in bloom. One day they appeared; by the end of the next they were in full bloom. Yet to be heard from are the ones out back, the squirrel-planted random bulbs, and the ones on the oak motte. And not a one's been stolen yet. We continue to see yellow swallowtails and black ones, some gulf fritillaries, zebra longwings, and many, many clouded sulphur butterflies. Just as the gulf fritillary has a startling orange body to match its wings, so does the clouded sulphur (or sulfur) have a bright yellow body, but one that's even brighter than its closed wings (it's extremely difficult to catch a peek at the top side of this beauty's wings).