Bring on the Butterflies for Bloom Day!

Butterfly Weed

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day again! On the 15th of each month, we gardeners with blogs share a few bloom photos from our gardens. Here is the Mid-Atlantic USA (USDA zone 7) on the DC-MD border, we had lots of rain this spring - interrupted by two long bouts of dry, heat that stressed out my garden. We got a bit of rain today after the latest week of desert-like winds, so I'm feeling some relief.

Yesterday, I found this Butterfly Weed (pictured above) finally blooming in the hell-strip pollinator garden I planted last year. The area needs a bit of attention and TLC, but this IS a weed so it fought its way through and I hope will soon be munched on by some Monarch caterpillars.

This Gladiola (pictured below) is an odd one. I think I planted it from a purple mix I bought, but cannot recall for sure. Can anyone ID it? It looks very different in low-light and much more purple in person. This photo was the best direct lighting I could give it to show the striping in the throat.

Gladiola - name?

What is blooming in your garden today?