Despite the extreme heat and drought, the natives are doing pretty well

What a difference a few days can make. The drought and heat persist, with just a tease of rain, yet many of my natives seem happy enough.

1. Swamp milkweed, with a visiting brown-belted bumble bee
2. Fireweed, bursting into flower
3. Closeup of fireweed, because it's the best
4. New England aster, WAY too early to be blooming
5. Bush honeysuckle
6. Butterfly milkweed
7. Crimson beebalm
8. Black-eyed Susan, also blooming early
9. Yarrow
10. Flowering raspberry
11. Elderberry
12. Closeup of elderberry
13. Meadow rue, an underrated plant
14. Canada anemone
15. St John's wort