Around My Yard

This is what I saw when I took a little walk around my yard today.

The poor apple tree looks terrible after the Japanese beetles chewed up all the leaves. All the apple trees in our area look like this. The apples are small, but they are ripening.

 

My sunflowers are getting TALL, but they are not blooming yet. 

Wait....

...what's that I see?

Yay! A sunflower bloom!

The Hibiscus is doing well with more buds waiting to open.

And, a surprise this morning - Magic Lilies!

Other sights around the yard.

There are tiny yellow butterflies on the milkweed plant. I circled one of them in red to make it easier to see.

This plant weed has a pretty blossom, but it is taking over my yard. They have gotten really tall the last few days. I hate them. They have a thorny stalks that hurt and a milky sap that is sticky. My husband calls it Wild Lettuce, but after reading this article I believe it is Prickly Lettuce. After reading the article about Wild Lettuce and this article about Prickly Lettuce I wonder if I should stop considering it to be a weed.