Maybe an astilbe in the middle. The purple looks monarda to me too. Given the height and habit, I think the tall yellow one is Helianthus of some sort. Helianthus multiflorus as already suggested is a good bet. The red foliage one is possibly an amaranth. Rudebeckia in the front, probably Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' as suggested. Since we can't see many details, you'll have to compare your memory to pictures of the plants suggested to see if there is a match. If you have any closer images, we could maybe narrow it further. FataMorgana

Thanks, Bernergrrl! It was so bittersweet releasing them especially my little miss "bad boy". I got to provide the instructional link for "downed chrysalis" you gave me to another forum poster who had a BST whose girdle broke and was hanging by his little tush attachment. "Pay It Forward" is a nice way to go through life. I've still got the last chrysalis (brown) hanging in enclosure and I sure hope he doesn't go into diapause and overwinter. I'll be worried all winter about him out in the garage but I read it's better not to bring them in the house because higher temps could lead them to eclose when you've got nowhere to release them since it's winter in the NE! You've been a doll just like your little one and I thank you. Mechelle, it seems like the gulf coast and CA have bumper crops of butterflies of so many varieties. My father keeps telling me the same thing MCronin reminded us of this week...we think there are less butterflies at this time because we forget most activity in some parts of US takes place toward Fall. I hope so because I haven't seen a single Monarch yet this year. For me, except for one male Eastern Swallowtail, the BSTs are the only ones I've seen so far this year not counting the dozens of Cabbage Whites nectaring like there's no tomorrow. Once I spot a butterfly I follow him/her around the yard just to watch. Love it. I used to travel to Texas a few times a year for business when I worked for a company that supplied industrial heat exchangers...don't ask...LOL. Annually attended Petro-Chem and Oil shows at AstroDome as booth vendor...what a pain. It was the 70s and a female in that world wasn't exactly run of the mill except standing on a rotating stage showing off some huge piece of equipment...and I don't have the "equipment" to stand on a rotating stage...LOL. I'll never forget my first time coming out the door of the plane onto the tarmac at the Houston airport and immediately being drenched in perspiration from the heat and humidity. Then you go inside an over airconditioned building and get chills. Once spent a "charming" day climbing all around machinery and hoses at bleach factory along ship channel. Not thinking before I went out there with sales rep I didn't wear (or have with me) older shoes so my heels were ruined by bleach leaking all over the place...LOL. It was a rough and tumble business back them but I learned a lot about those industries and there's not much I'm not curious about and happy to learn more. Is it warm enough in your part of Texas for butterflies to eclose most/all year round? If not will your new BSTs go into diapause like they do up here in NE? I learned about 15 years ago from a person raised in Amarillo that it gets very cold and snows up in that part of the state. Well, you'll be a busy mama for a while with all those little ones. Think I'll go check the parsley again...ya never know...LOL. Thanks for your kind comments. This is a warm forum and it's so nice to find a place in this world where people are welcoming, encouraging, supportive and have sense of wonder & lots of humor. Guess if you care about these little guys who turn into beautiful creatures of nature and take the trouble to raise them then that caring carries over into other parts of life for many people. Makes me glad and appreciative. Butterflies take the naturally occurring "gloomy" out of a lot of pockets of people's lives. Trust me...if I find anymore cats there'll be more long missives of my experiences. I just got to find me at least ONE Monarch egg or cat! I already have all the rearing supplies and plenty of Milkweed. :)

ali, what about putting an arbor in and growing a honeysuckle up it? From the edge and in from the driveway to the tree, I'd edge out the grass from that area and curve slightly to the end of the concrete pad in front of your home, the patio area. All the way to the end. Let's give you some curb appeal ;) Put the middle of the arbor in front of the edge of the concrete pad where the car is sitting, about 3 feet in. From the middle of the arbor to the drive and then going up your house, you could create a path that would curve over to the sidewalk and to the front door. For right now, using newspapers and a 5 gallon bucket filled with water, cover up all grass with layers of newspapers you've plunged into the water. Lay them down, overlapping as you go. I typically use about 10 layers of paper. The more, the better. If you can create your path first, either using stepping stones or gravel, lay down something like visqueen and lay the stepping stones or the gravel over to create the path. Remove the grass where the path will be so that nobody trips over stepping stones or gravel. Take out a V shape where you're going into the lawn from driveway to tree and up and over to the end of your home. Remove the dirt and the grass from the V, so that you've got a drop off of sorts and lay your wet newspaper to curve down into the area where the dirt is. Cover the area up with mulch or mushroom compost if you can get your hands on some, except for the path area. By next year, the newspaper will start to decompose and the grass will be dead, but it adds to the organic matter of newspaper and the dead grass. Worm heaven. From now and thru winter, study up on various perennials and possibly a few shrubs that produce berries for our other feathered friends. Next year, push back the mulch or mushroom compost and dig holes to plant. There should be enough room to the right of the path up to your front door, to add in a shrub. Then the other shrubs could go in front of the poles, under planted and going out to the edge with perennials. I prefer natives. They're adapted to our weather, our soil, they make up our ecosystem. Find a list of native plants for your area, and research those plants as to what hummingbirds like and also which ones make seed that other birds will like to eat on. The native plants won't require dead heading, don't need pruned or cut back so they look better....I just prefer them over all. Now an iris in there isn't going to hurt anything ;)...or a peony....both left by the previous owner that I decided to leave and a friend of mine from TN also gave me a beautiful iris that is sentimental to me. But again, those 2 are easy plants. Hummingbirds will love to sit and rest a spell on shrubs you provide and give you a closer look at their beauty. Too much?? Where do you live? Zone 5, but where? lovefornature, you're doing a wonderful job! It's people like you who join GW that make it an enjoyable site to visit. If you like butterflies and are interested in attracting some of them to come to your yard, you could plant a Aristolochia tomentosa or Aristolochia durior. Another plant I love that I don't know draws anything in, but blooms in late summer, is Clematis virginiana. Another neat native clematis is Clematis glaucophylla. I also answered the e-mail you sent, I hope you got it.

What a bunch of cuties!! Lucky you to get three nestings!! We have one box of TRES that fledged 5 here in the yard, a box of 2 Blues at the park that fledged and my 4 Dees here in my yard should be going any day now. Have four Blues babies in the box that are six days old today. Two more boxes of TRES in the yard with babies and two at the park with babies then I have two pairs of TRES nestbuilding yet after loosing their first brood to the cold weather we had a week+ ago. Weather has now been nice and warm. Donna Donna