Wildflower Wednesday

I am not sure how September got here so quickly, and is now almost over!  I am not ready for winter, but I am determined to enjoy fall.  For Gail's Wildflower Wednesday, I am going to feature the same plant I did in July, short toothed mountain mint, Pycnanthemum muticum because it is continuing to do so well and is attracting pollinators.  I also posted a photo of this awesome plant in my last post that I did because of the huge numbers of painted lady butterflies we had been seeing.  I mentioned that if you can only have one native plant, this is one that would be a contender.  There are not many plants that feed the pollinators for such a long time!  Another plus, is that rabbits and deer do not eat it.  I am thinking Gail has posted about it as well, and called it blunt mountain mint, as I read some do.  The plants contain pulegone, the same insecticide as pennyroyal, and I read that one can rub some leaves on the skin to repel mosquitoes.  That is weird to me, since it draws so many insects to the blooms.  This is one you do not want to make tea with like you can Virginia mountain mint.

Here are some photos I took today:

There were not as many painted ladies, but there were still a number of them.  I love the silver looking leaves.

I wonder if this is a great golden digger wasp.

The wasp on the left looks like the previous one, but it is quite a bit smaller. Then, there are a couple tiny ones, smaller than the honey bee in the photo.

I am not sure what this little insect is.  It may be a bee of some kind.  It's smaller than half an inch long.

I was excited to see yet another kind of wasp!  I need to learn what kinds these are!

I believe this wasp is yet another kind.  It doesn't look to have white on it like the other black ones.

I can't see the antennae on this well enough to be able to tell if it is a moth or a butterfly.  I know I've seen these here before, but not often.

I am always glad to see the bumblebees and carpenter bees.  They have been around all summer. 

If you have a spot to fill, this is one that looks great all season, and you get to see a variety of pollinators on it!  It does well in full sun to part shade.  It can handle moist or dry conditions.  It spreads by rhizomes, but not aggressively.  Here is a link to show more information, including the native range.  It is not actually native here in SE Nebraska, but the insects don't realize it, and they sure grow well here!  http://www.abnativeplants.com/plant/Pycnanthemum-muticum