A Bevy of Beautiful Butterflies!

Yesterday I had the pleasure to spend several hours visiting the Texas Discovery Gardens at Fair Park in Dallas. I am ashamed to say after all my years in Dallas, I had never visited the TDG. They have the Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House which is a 2 story glass enclosed structure that allows you to see butterflies both on ground level and up at canopy level. They receive new shipments of butterflies daily, so there is a constantly changing diversity of butterflies and moths there. Below are a few of my favorite images from yesterday. I can tell I'll be visiting there often in the future!

Remember you can click on any of the images to see them in their original galleries!

Feel free to visit the good folks who share at Camera Critters and Macro Monday!

Orange Banded Butterfly Portrait

Orange Banded Butterfly

Doris Longwing Butterfly

Doris Longwing Butterfly Peeking over a leaf. (Look closely at the eyes!)

Julia Longwing Butterfly

My Favorite Summer Flower

As we prepare to enter the heat of the summer months here in Texas, many folks know that we will lose the beauty of all the amazing spring blossoms that make so much of the Texas landscape appealing. Indeed the floral options during the dog days of summer are  pretty minimal given the heat throughout most of the state. However the is one flower that blooms in the heat of Texas summers that is so unusual I just have to share it with you here. By sharing it early in summer season perhaps some of you may be inspired to go out  and seek it for yourselves! This special blossom is called Buttonbush and it blooms from June to August in relatively moist areas (think lakeshores, marshes, riverbanks). After bloomimng the flowers dry up and leave a ping pong ball sized seedpod that disperses seeds in late summer/early fall.

Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)

As you may be able to tell from the tubular nature of the individual flowers, these are very popular with butterflies as a nectar source. Because of the bushy nature of the plant they bloom on (from 2 feet tall to over 15 feet tall) they often serve as cover for waterfowl along lake margins. Enjoy this quirky flower, I hopeyou encounter your own!  What are your favorite summertime wildflowers?

Feel free to visit Macro Flower Saturday ; Today's Flowers ; Flowers on Saturday; Macro Monday

Mexican Plum Blossoms...Welcome Springtime!

For this week's MACRO MONDAY post I am sharing my most recent shots. On Friday morning, I put my macro lens through the paces as the Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana) tree near my office was in full & glorious bloom. These blossoms were so inviting and the vernal equinox was so close, I just HAD to take advantage of the opportunity Mother Nature provided. I especially like how the anthers of these blossoms reach out from the center of the blossom in a gangly way.

Click in either image to see it in the original gallery.

Feel free to visit TODAY'S FLOWERS for other floral delights!

Macro Monday Mystery -- The Answer!

Last week I posted this image as a Mystery shot. And many of you guessed its identity. As promised, here is the great "reveal" of its true nature!

I really enjoyed the range of guesses and second guesses that everyone put into this! The image was taken at the Fort Worth Zoo and I cropped my not so great image of a zebra down to a more interesting view of the "pseudo symmetrical" pattern along his spine. All of your who guessed Zebra were indeed correct. and those of you who were afraid it was a shot of an animal rug need not worry as the zebra is very much alive and well. Interestingly, I will be enlarging the image and using it as if it were an animal skin hanging on a wall in our guest bedroom to go along with a similar image of a (living) giraffe's skin that I took elsewhere. Thanks for all your participation.!

A Macro Monday Mystery

In honor of Macro Monday I am posting this macro shot for you to ponder. What is it? And to what does it belong? Feel free to share your guesses in the comments. I'll post the answer next Sunday!

The ANSWER is now posted...click HERE to see the reveal!

Beebonnet

Last year I was lucky enough to get word of a small (several acre) patch of bluebonnets just a couple miles from my home here in  in North Texas. I spent portions of several days visiting this patch hoping to get some good landscapes of these iconic Texas flowers (bluebonnets are the state flower of Texas and Texans are rightly proud of this!) I was successful at composing some pleasing landscapes, but I also was able to get a few good macro shots of individual blossoms. This image, titled "Beebonnet" is my favorite of the bunch as the bee was a most willing and cooperative "model"!  

Beebonnet

Allen, Texas

Click in image to see it in the original gallery

Enjoy other fun animals at the CAMERA CRITTERS meme
Getinto a Blue mood at BLUE MONDAY.

MACRO FLOWERS SATURDAY & FLOWERS ON SATURDAY are also a great places to get your "floral fix"!

Want more Macros? Give MACRO MONDAY  a try.

Visions of Spring......

This week's WORDLESS WEDNESDAY post.... click the link to see other wordless offerings....

Click in the image to see it in the original gallery.

TODAY'S FLOWERS has lots of other floral images!
MACRO FLOWERS SATURDAY  & FLOWERS ON SATURDAY are also a great places to get your "floral fix"!
Visit OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY for still more great ourdoorsy pics!
Enjoy MACRO MONDAY for some smallscale fun!

Monarch on Ironweed

Today's image is from a visit I had to Brookgreen Gardens in Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina. This ever familiar monarch had landed on this small flower that captured my attention. I had never seen a flower quite like this before. I was particularly taken by the tubular stamens that the butterfly was exploiting for nectar. In addition, the purple and yellow coloration was such a pleasing contrast to my eye. I certainly hope this unusual contrast bring pleasure to you as well.

Monarch on Ironweed

Click in image to view in the original gallery

For more CAMERA CRITTERS click HERE
Enjoy the beauty of MACRO FLOWER SATURDAY HERE
To enjoy more of SCENIC SUNDAY click HERE
For MACRO MONDAY fun click HERE