Jupiter's Beard

When I posted the pictures of the swallowtail butterfly the other day, I don't think I adequately expressed how frustrating it was to take them. Ha! Not only was the wind blowing the plants around like crazy, the butterfly wouldn't sit still either. After a few attempts I gave up and took pictures of the flowers instead (although you can still see the butterfly at the  bottom left of this shot). This plant is called Jupiter's beard, a.k.a. Centranthus ruber, and it grows exceptionally well in our hot and very dry summers and lengthy winters. It's the perfect plant for xeriscaping, really, because it not only prefers to be mostly ignored, it also requires very little water. And it's pretty!