July Blues – Flutterbies

Butterflies at the Chicago Botanic Garden are my second entry for the July Blues squares. Still trying to catch up with posts and emails.  Our youngest grandson is visiting this week so posts and replies may be a bit sporadic but I will get to them all eventually. I am, however, making every effort to keep up with all the excellent blogs that I follow on WordPress.

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CFFC – Three’s A Crowd

Cee’s topic for this week’s Fun Foto Challenge is 3 items or the number three.  I don’t see too many creatures hanging out in threes. I guess two’s company, three’s a crowd.  But here are a few that didn’t seem to mind sharing space.

Pictured above; snakes and elk in Elk Grove Village, African wild dogs at Brookfield Zoo, ducks at the Chicago Botanic Garden and Frederik Meijer Sculpture Garden in Grand Rapids, turtles in Hermann Park in Houston and pelicans on the river in Davenport, Iowa.

 

 

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Butterfly Kisses

This week, Amy has chosen something Unique as the subject for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours with the butterflies at the Chicago Botanic Gardens and, rather like snowflakes, it seems as though every one is slightly different.  And they feel like snowflakes too, whispering past my arms and neck, giving me those butterfly kisses just like my mother used to brush against my cheeks with her eyelashes when I was a child.

And there is definitely some butterfly hanky panky going on in here. What I at first take to be one very large, oddly-shaped butterfly turns out to be two having a good time in the afternoon sun. And there are more of them at it a little further along the path.

I wonder if it’s the rotting fruit that is driving them sex mad? There seems to be a constant flow of visitors to these colorful trays of tempting delicacies, including a butterfly that looks strangely like an autumn leaf.

Whatever the reason, the butterflies are extremely active, the air is full of them fluttering around. It’s a strange thing but although moths usually send me running for the exits or screaming for assistance in the house, butterflies are welcome to land on my shoulder or, like this one, catch a ride on my camera bag.

Each one of these little gems is a unique creation of nature, living a brief, gaudy life, distributing butterfly kisses and filling the hearts of young and old alike, with joy.

 

Chicago Botanic Garden – Spring In Retrospect

Spring in retrospect at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The colors were stunning and this rare sunny day provided everything that you could hope for in the way of scenic beauty. I also got to the Garden before the rain shattered the tree blossoms which is something I usually manage to mistime.

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – The Icing On The Cake

This week, Ann-Christine has chosen Trees as the subject for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge and there is certainly no shortage of those in my photo files, so in order to select a few for this post I decided to look at the images and choose some of those where I thought the trees added the finishing touch, the icing on the cake, so to speak.  These were taken at Cantigny Park, Chicago Botanic Garden and the Morton Arboretum in Illinois and one in Utah.

 

 

 

 

Pull Up A Seat – At The Garden In May

There wasn’t much time to Pull Up A Seat at the Chicago Botanic Garden yesterday. There was just so much to see and photograph, but there were a couple of benches that caught my eye because of the colorful flowers nearby. It was a gorgeous day (a rare treat in what has been an extremely rainy month) so I felt like I needed to make the most of it.  Lots more flower pictures to come in future posts.

Tulip Time In Lombard

Lilacs aren’t the only attraction in Lilacia Park in Lombard at this time of year. The tulips certainly get their share of attention and deservedly so.  Seeing all these beautiful flowers reminds me that it’s probably time to replace some of the tulip bulbs that are past their prime in my garden.  I always find it hard to discard any plants that have done so well in the past (it feels rather like a betrayal) but I know those bulbs, that have long ceased to put out any flowers, will have to go.  Time for some new stock and fresh color. Perhaps I’ll try a few of these.