英語の後に日本語が続きます。
Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) are native to Turkey and Eastern Europe, though they can be found across Japan. The plant produces single- and double-flowered blooms in white, pink, purple, and red from June to August in Tokyo. Their Japanese name is tachi-aoi, which translates to 'standing mallow,' a flower with a special place in Japanese tradition.
'Mitsuba aoi,' which translates to "three-leaf mallow," is the crest of the Tokugawa clan, who ruled Japan during the Edo period (1603–1688). This is still known nationwide today because of a long-running "samurai" television drama about Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628–1701), a grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate. This period drama originally aired from 1969 to 2011 and continues to be rerun today.
In the drama, Mitsukuni travels throughout the country incognito to uncover and investigate injustice, ultimately defeating and punishing corrupt samurai and merchants. At the end of each episode, Mitsukuni (or more specifically, one of his two samurai retainers) brandishes an inro pillbox bearing the three-leaf mallow crest to reveal Mitsukuni's identity as a member of the Tokugawa clan. (By the way, although Mitsukuni existed and was a relative of the shogun, the drama episodes are all fictional.)
Interestingly, the Tokugawa clan's crest is not actually modeled on a "three-leafed mallow," but rather on Asarum caulescens Maxim.—a very plain, two-leafed, heart-shaped plant. The famous three-leafed design is said to have been stylized from this humble herb.
Then, another question arises. Why did someone who wanted to rule the country choose such a plain plant for their crest? One website notes that many samurai clans during the Warring States period (1467–1615) chose simple plants for their crests. This was to show they were as strong and hardy as these plants, capable of surviving in such harsh circumstances.
I found what might be a varied carpet beetle covered in pollen in the center of a white flower (the first 3 photos). The beetle must have been having breakfast, but it looked to me like it was just playing in the pollen.
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立葵（タチアオイ）です。トルコや東欧原産ですが日本でもあちこちで見られます。6月から8月にピンク、白、赤、紫の花を付けます。紫だけまだ見たことがありません。
葵というと「葵の御紋」のイメージが強いですが、徳川家の三つ葉葵の「葵」は実は葵ではなくて二葉葵（フタバアオイ）というもっと地味な植物だそうです。戦国大名には雑草のような植物を家紋にした家が多かったとのこと。雑草パワー強しです！
最初の方の写真ですが、花粉まみれになって遊んでいた虫（多分ヒメマルカツオブシムシ（姫丸鰹節虫））です。
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