Green Wizard

This is the first bloom on Rudbeckia occidentalis 'Green Wizard' in the devil garden (after several years). I suspect the delay is due to lack of sun. This year's bloom is encouraging--I'm hoping for more next year. And I will cut shading branches back further. The top photo is from a few weeks ago. The ring of yellow florets gradually moves upward as new ones open and the older ones are done, but the overall presentation remains primarily a purple-black cone on green sepals.

The wizard has a minion! I think it's Lygaeus kalmii ("Small Milkweed Bug")--in addition to donning fiery colors to complement the devil garden, it contains cardiac glycosides in its thorax that could cause arrhythmias or worse, if I felt like having a beetle snack (no worries there). It's a bit reminiscent of a Tiki mask.