We have had cold weather, and the days are definitely getting shorter. But so far there is little evidence of the rich colours of autumn foliage. Not to worry - the tiny white flowers of koromiko have been lit up by the rich orange of some autumn butterflies.
A Yellow Admiral...
And a rather age-worn Monarch (male, in case you wondered).
The koromiko is a New Zealand native shrub commonly found in the North Island. These ones are self-sown in my garden, and they are most welcome - their profuse flowering attracts butterflies, bees, and other pollinating good-guys.
Its botanical name was Hebe stricta, revised to Veronica stricta. But taxonomists always have a tough time convincing people to accept plant name changes, and since there are about 90 "Hebe" species native to New Zealand I suspect we will be using the old names for quite a while. Whatever we call them, they are evidence again of nature's bounty.