I was excited when I found this blooming plant on the slope in front of my house where I had planted some physostegia seedlings TWO springs ago. Physostegia is also known as the "obedient" plant because you are supposed to be able to bend a stem and have it remain the way you bent it. In the case of this stem, unfortunately, the stem broke, so I brought inside to photograph it with my phone, which in a pinch makes some pretty nice closeups.

I planted the seedlings because the flowers are supposed to attract butterflies and I had seen evidence of that fact at a ranger station in the Pisgah National Forest. It does spread by underground rhizomes and can be invasive, so you are advised to be careful where you plant it!

Will be interesting to see how it spreads next spring.

All sorts of flowers have started blooming now that it has cooled off. It's a fun time for flower photo ops.