Today's Flowers - One Year Anniversary

Congratulation to the Today's Flowers team on a wonderful year of flowers from all over the world!

My new job and travel time doesn't give me much time to blog and visit everyone. I really miss it. So, I was determined to spend some time blogging. I feel like it's been so long I can't even remember which days I'm supposed to do which memes. I think I've got this one right. We'll soon find out.


I don't know what this little flower is. It was growing in a pot in my sister's back yard and the flower was probably no bigger than my thumbnail but I thought it was really pretty.



If you like flowers, check out the link below for more photos from bloggers participating in Today's Flowers.

Mellow Yellow Monday

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Camera Critters - Butterflies

More photos from my last trip to the Butterfly Pavillion at the History Museum in Los Angeles. I'm not even going to pretend to know for sure what these are so please correct me if I'm wrong. You can click on any image for a larger view.

Julia (?) & White Peacock (?)

Julia & ?

Cabbage white:

Buckeye:

Painted Lady?

And this little Buckeye landed on my arm and stayed there while I walked around and took photos. Some of the kids there were jealous. Na Na-na-na Na! LOL!


If you like these little critters you should check out the Camera Critters meme for a wide variety of little cutie critters by clicking on the icon below:

Anise Swallowtail & Old World Swallowtail

More shots from my last trip to the Butterfly Pavilion. This is the Anise Swallowtail. What a pretty little thing this is. Since this exhibit is on display through August or September, I thought they must have new shipments brought in periodically to replace the butterflies.


They're so fragile and so short. I learned that they actually "grow" these butterflies in the museum and when they've emerged from their crysallis and have stretched their wings, they bring them down to the Pavillion. I would love to get a look inside of that room.


I thought this was an interesting tidbit of info. Like all swallowtail caterpillars, if disturbed, it will suddenly evert bright orange osmeteria (or "stinkhorns") from just behind its head, glandular structures which give off a foul odor. (Quoted from Wikipedia.)



Oops! Wait. Now that I'm looking at this, the body is a different color than the Anise. I don't think this last shot is the same butterfly. LOL! I have to go look this last one up. Okay. The one above is an Old World Swallowtail. That calls for one more photo.


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Poor Butterfly!

I wanted to share this before I get back to trying to respond to the comments left from Watery Wednesday. I went back to the Butterfly Pavilion outside of the Natural History Museum in L.A. While walking around snapping pictures I saw this little guy on one of the leaves. In looking at the photo you'll probably think just what I did. What's wrong with its wings?


Almost immediately, I went and found one of the people that work there and asked the man if he could answer a question for me then led him to this butterfly. He gave a very thorough explanation and I only hope I can repeat it in a way that does his explanation justice. He explained that when the butterflies first emerge from the cocoon their wings are wet and folded up like this. It takes the new butterfly a while to realize they have these wings and to let them unfold. He further explained they need the sun and warm weather to help dry their wings.


Sometimes, they don't learn to stretch their wings out before they become hard and if they become hard before they have completely unfolded, this is what happens to them. This little guy will never fly. It will have a more difficult time finding food and because it can flutter its wings to attract a mate, chances are it will never mate. This little guy will never look like the one below.

Watery Wednesday #39

If you haven't checked out Watery Wednesday, what are you waiting for? If you've never been cyber wet, here's your chance! Click here or on the icon at the end of the post to visit my Watery Wednesday meme and see the wonderful variety of watery shots form all over the world.


I wasn't sure what to post this week - flowers, leaves... I opted for both.


If you visited last week you might remember my story that as I was walking around Descanso Gardens the sprinklers came on and I had a field day taking shots of the flowers sprinkled with water. These are more of those shots.



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Mellow Yellow Monday - Yellow Centers

I thought my Mellow Yellow Monday shots would focus on some flowers with a sunburst of yellow as their centers.





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Today's Flowers - Wooly Blue Curls

My photos for today's meme are called Trichostema Lanatum - Wooly Blue Curls. I wish I'd remember how to use the manual focus on my camera. Whenever I need it I can't remember how to get to it. I needed it for these because the lens kept wanting to focus on the background and not the flower. Urrrggghhh! LOL!


Anyway, I've always like the soft curl of the stamen and the lovely colors. Oh! And can you see the hummingbird in the first photo? :-)




If you like flowers, check out the link below for more photos from bloggers participating in Today's Flowers.

Watery Wednesday #38 - Jewel Drops

If you haven't participated in or checked out Watery Wednesday, what are you waiting for! Get on over there and see what it's like to get cyber wet! CLICK HERE or on the icons at the bottom of this post and don't forget your cyber goggles.

The other day I mentioned that I went to Descanso Gardens and while I was walking around the water sprinklers came on and I had a wonderful time taking photos of the drops of water it left on the flowers. These are a couple of my favorite shots from that day. I was saving them just for Watery Wednesday.


This little flower was no bigger than my thumbnail and I just love the way the drops look like jewels.


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Today's Flowers & Mellow Yellow Monday

I was walking around Descanso Gardens yesterday when they sprinklers went off. I went a little crazy taking shots of the drops of water on a lot of the flowers. I had such a good time and I think they came out so well. Here are just a few of them.






If you like flowers, check out the link below for more photos from bloggers participating in Today's Flowers. Or visit Mellow Yellow Monday to visit the brightest meme on the internet and brighten up your day.

Today's Flowers

It's gotten a little easier to find something to post for the memes I participate in now that all of my photos are a little more organized. I really liked these and hope you do too.

A White Rose
By John Boyle O'Reilly (1844-1890)

THE red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.

But I send you a cream-white rosebud
With a flush on its petal tips;
For the love that is purest and sweetest
Has a kiss of desire on the lips.

If you like flowers, check out the link below for more photos from bloggers participating in Today's Flowers.