I was out on one my photowalks and I found a tree that was covered in butterflies and moths. I guess it had flowers that they like to eat or something? I don’t know, but I’ve never seen that many butterflies together in place before, it was amazing.

I know I probably take too many photos of flowers, so I think I’m going to try only posting flowers only on Fridays. Those pointy red things probably aren’t flowers, but I have no idea what they are so they’re going in this post.

Carolina Saddlebags Dragonfly

Atlantic Bluet Damselfly (?)

I’ve been trying to get pictures of dragonflies for a long time, but it’s so difficult since they hardly ever stay still. I finally got this one and another damselfly (which seem to be much easier to get photos of). The key is to go out on an exceptionally hot day because it seems even the flies have a harder time buzzing around in that kind of heat and they’ll sit for much longer! I’ve already gotten a few more good shots of dragonflies (that I haven’t processed yet or else I’d include them) by going out during this heat wave. I was sweating buckets, but it was worth it!

Creativity Boot Camp, Day 8

Why is there not a website that helps you identify trees/flowers by picture? It seems to me that this is a really obvious website to make, but I googled my brain out trying to figure out what kind of tree this was and had no help. The few websites I could find that help with identifying things either had teeny-tiny pictures, with no close-ups or no pictures at all. I think this is some kind of crabapple or pear tree, but I’m really not sure. It’s pretty, whatever it is!

107/365 - April 17, 2010

106/365 - April 16, 2010

105/365 - April 15, 2010

I’ve always loved dandelions and never understood why people say they are “weeds”. Personally, I love that my yard is full of them. But I guess I can see why they would annoy people who want some kind of “perfect” lawn or something.

I noticed one night that they had all uh…bloomed…matured — I don’t know the correct terminology for changing to white seeds — so I planned to go out the next morning and get some pictures. Well, of course, the next day I woke up to the sound of a lawnmower and looked outside and the whole yard had been leveled. It made me sad. But not a week later I was walking to my front door and noticed that they had just popped right back up and it barely looked like the yard had been mowed a few days before. So I definitely get why you would call them weeds if they can grow back that fast, but their resilience just makes me like them even more.

96/365 - April 6, 2010 - Click to see larger

One day I’m going to get tired of taking pictures of flowers, but that is not going to be anytime soon. This is the first real spring I’ve had in years. There’s no spring in Florida, there’s just less hot and very hot. I saw very few flowers while I lived there, so living somewhere that I see a new flower or plant or insect every single time I step out of my house is amazing. Also amazing? Accidents. In the top picture, I didn’t even notice there was a ladybug until I was looking though the photos afterward.

I think this is my favorite variety of cherry tree that I’ve seen so far because it’s so brilliantly pink. If we ever buy our own house, I want to plant a bunch of these. They are lovely. But when I was taking pictures this tree was swarming with bees, so I’ll have to make sure it’s a safe distance from the house because I hate bees (although I do like taking pictures of them).

91/365 - April 1, 2010