It’s official – August was the driest month on record – ever – in the Chattanooga area.  The grass is brown, and plants everywhere are drooping with the stress of the drought, and we appear to have lost some of the plants we’ve purchased over the past couple of years – a Rhododendron and our Teaberry plant.  However, the Blue Mistflower that show up around our property seem to be thriving in spite of the lack of rain, and some of the insects on them seem pretty healthy, too.

Blue Mistflower – Conoclinium coelestinum

When I started to photograph the stand of Blue Mistflower down by a drainage ditch (DRY drainage ditch) that runs through our property, I wondered what the little green bracts were in the inflorescence.  Looking closer, I discovered it was this insect instead.  Thanks to Dorothy Pugh for identifying it for me as an Ambush Bug.

Ambush Bug on Blue Mistflower – Conoclinium coelestinum

Ambush Bug on Blue Mistflower – Conoclinium coelestinum

While photographing the Ambush Bug above, I spotted this grasshopper on a leaf.  It turned toward me and seemed to give me an initimidating look, as if to say “This is MY territory!”

Grasshopper on Blue Mistflower Leaf

For more information on Blue Mistflower, go to the Conoclinium coelestinum detail page.