Photo Wednesday

 Today I have a gardening theme going on, and I need your help.  There are two plants that I need to identify because I'd like to have them as part of my landscaping. I hope someone knows what they are called (and tells me), and if someone has a "ballpark" cost, I'd love to know that, too. Please leave a comment!

This next photo is of a flower I thought was just beautiful.

It reminded me of a sunset.

Last, here are the front and back of a garden spider that is indigenous (and quite common) in North and South America.  It is a golden orb weaver.  Some of my friends call it a banana spider, but that can be confusing because there is a very poisonous "Banana" spider in Brazil that is way uglier and meaner than this one.

 It has several common names such as yellow garden spider.  Another friend called this her backyard buddy.  It will bite if threatened, but usually just runs away if it's web is disturbed. The bite is comparable to a bee sting.  This one is definitely female.  The male orb weaver is much smaller and brown in color.

For more fun photos, visit image-in-ing and Wordless Wednesday.