The world is full of roses: gardens, paintings, songs, poems…the list is endless.
This rose was a gift from Gerald’s, the tire place.
Gerald’s is a business that is all about customer service, including this token of their appreciation, left on the seat of your car. Add marketing to the rose’s achievement list.
I don’t know the plant or the insect. Rather pretty up close, the insect has a furry looking yellow jacket, but is not what I think of as a “Yellow Jacket.” The small flowers are on tall stalks growing in standing water at the edge of a swampy area.
The insect must have been getting some nourishment satisfaction or good taste because he kept at it, going round and round the plant.
Except for the purple highlights on the leaves, the plant is not particularly attractive to look at. I should go back in a week or so and see what it might have transformed into.
Iris in all sorts of colors are thriving around the swamp where I photograph the wading birds. This is some distance from the cultivated gardens and I’ve wondered if they were planted intentionally or just happened via a happy accident. Regardless, its a nice surprise to happen upon them.
We had just had a hard late season frost so I was quite surprised to see these brilliant poppies in full bloom along my path.
The blooms were dancing in a light breeze, the full sun highlighting the colors.
A bee filled his pollen sacks with seemingly little effort, gliding around in the flower cup.
It was worth the stop and delay in getting to my destination.
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View other entries at The Road Taken.
The Daily Post Photo Challenge:
“For this week’s challenge, show us something that surprised you on “the road taken.”
Essex, CT 4/9/2016.
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The Daily Post Photo Challenge:
“This week, hunt for shadows and incorporate them into your shot. The shadow can be the focal point of the image, or simply a detail that adds texture and makes the scene a bit more dynamic.”
One of the lovely things about living in South Carolina is seeing plants in bloom throughout the year.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston maintains a huge variety of plantings, most in a less formal style “where humanity and nature are in harmony.” Surprises are at every turn and this Lily was holding court in a small clearing near a massive oak brought down by hurricane Matthew.
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A common Anole hanging out with the flowers on this early fall day. He twisted up and down stopping in yoga-like poses.
The flowers remind me of a wild aster, but different than those in New England. The bank of the canals running through the old rice fields at Caw Caw County Park are lined with them.
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At least a dozen butterflies were zipping around these purple flowers for what seemed like a great photo op. Just when you are ready to take the shot they often are suddenly ten feet away.
With patience, they might come back.
Or are replaced by one zipping in from another direction.
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These spiders have webs all along the trails around the Audubon Swamp Garden at Magnolia Plantation. During our visit June 26th there was a lot of mating activity. Look closely in this photo and you will see the much smaller black male on this side of the more colorful female. An exoskeleton she recently shed is stuck in the web just above them.
(Click any photo to enlarge.)
Our guide on the walk says these spiders won’t jump out onto human passers by. I reminded myself of that a few times as we passed under some webs. We’ll return in a few weeks and see how family life is progressing.
In the mean time the pond surfaces were active with dragonflies in a variety of colors scooping up other insects.
Spider lilies didn’t seem to mind the heat with their roots in several inches of water.
