Pipevine flower blooms again

This amazing flower is blooming in our garden! It first bloomed last September. and we're so excited that it returned with many more flowers this year. Some are still small, but quite a few have grown into the full-sized dramatic, four- to five-inch blooms. The colors are stunning, the broad flowers a deep maroon speckled with white, and the throats gleaming intense yellow tinged with orange-red.

Pipevine (Aristolochia), also known as Dutchman's Pipe, is the host plant for the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly (Battus philenor), one of my absolutely favorite local butterflies. You can see my blog post, Pipevine Dreams, about the butterfly and plant. This is the Aristolochia durior x A. elegans, a hybrid Pipevine that George got as a starter vine at the University of California Botanical Garden. We haven't seen any of the butterflies around our vine, but I took a photo of one this summer at the UC Botanical Garden. The next photo shows the Aristolochia durior's pipe behind a yet-unopened flower, and you can also see the size of the flower compared to George's hand.

What's special in your garden this week? Any bird, butterflies, or blooms?

Click here to see the original post on my blog. And click here to see my nature photographs on my website.