These painted turtles remind me of three friends posing for a portrait. They were basking in the sun, soaking up some solar energy in the Great Dismal Swamp when I took this photo.
Mourning Cloak
This Mourning Cloak butterfly stops to rest and feed in a patch of tiny, purple wild flowers. I encountered it while hiking with a friend this spring in the Great Dismal Swamp near Suffolk, VA.
Bumble Bee on Redbud
Over the weekend I sat on my roof to get a better view of the bumble bees pollenating our redbud tree. These trees never cease to amaze me. They are in full bloom in Richmond and quite beautiful right now. The bees will be all over them for the next few weeks. Some of the birds will even eat the flowers. Then, late in the summer they will start to produce seed pods and become nature’s perfect bird feeder. Of course the trees benefit immensely from feeding the birds. We have one full sized tree in our yard and we must get a hundred saplings sprout up every year.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Color
A Zebra Swallowtail butterfly feeds on henbit and buttercups along the Washington Ditch in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge near Suffolk, Virginia.
Pink Orchid
This beautiful pink and yellow orchid was on display at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Orchid Show in Richmond, VA. I couldn’t resist the temptation to try and get a Georgia O’Keeffe style image of it.
Orchid Show
These orchids were on display at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, VA. Inside an arboretum, their delicate, colorful blooms offered a refreshing break from the bleak, cold weather outside when we visited in February.
Chihuly Boats
These boats are filled with Chihuly glass work and displayed on a mirrored surface. The effect was a dazzling display of color reflected as if the boats were floating in still water.
Mistflower After the Rain
I came upon these mistflowers in a meadow, after a rain storm in early September. The rain drops weighed down the flowers and made them difficult to identify. Regardless, these wildflowers provided the meadow with a pop of purple color.
Magnolia Fruit
The magnolia fruit is always an early sign of fall. The bright, warm color and soft texture of the cone contrast sharply with the dark, cool, shiny leaves of the tree. This one was framed almost perfectly between two leaves.
Pokeweed Berries
Pokeweed is such a colorful plant. With it’s pink stems, bright pink flower clusters, and dark blue berries it’s easy to forget it’s poisonous. It wasn’t until after I took this picture I noticed the tiny spider on one of the berries.