Seek Beauty- Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly

In this crazy crazy world we're living in, it's good to escape to a place of serenity to just take in a few deep breaths and relax. Seek out something beautiful among the ashes.

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly

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Photos taken 5/30/2020

More Backyard Blooms: May 2020

By the end of May, the Hosta plants had produced tall stalks of flowers...

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The Queen Anne's Lace was blooming everywhere at the edge of the woods...

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The Mimosa trees were in full bloom with their pretty pink fluff balls...

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The Foxtail Ferns were growing back...

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The white Begonias that I planted were growing rapidly...

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and the new Lantana plants that I set out were thriving...

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Everything looks so healthy and vibrant.

Flutter By

I was setting some plants in my flower garden when a beautiful butterfly 

decided to check out some nearby blooms...

Spicebush Swallowtail

Courting at the Bird Feeders

This pair of courting Northern Cardinals were at the bird feeder this morning and were feeding each other sunflower seeds.  I noticed the male left the female a couple of times, but returned within a few seconds with seeds from another feeder which he then gave her.  Their bonding behavior is normal during breeding season.  It's such a sweet thing to watch :) 

Love, sweet love

Wildflowers

A few of the wild flowers growing in our back yard

this spring...

A couple of thistles were nearly as tall as me!  

I can't imagine falling into one of these prickly plants, OUCH!

Back Yard Notes

The new flowers and plants are taking well in the flower garden.  The carpet roses are heavy laden with blooms.  The day lilies are close to making their spring appearance.  Their bed needs a coat of mulch before the summer heat sets in. 

Daddy Wren perched upon an old weathered tree stump just a few feet from me and began singing.  It was a perfect moment to snap a good photo.  I watched for a while as the wren parents made several trips around the brush in the back yard then in and out of the nest box.  I could hear the baby birds chirping when a parent approached the nest.

Piper likes to come out of the brush and play when I'm in the area.  She gets hyperactive and does all sorts of silly things that make me laugh.  She plays with pine cones and sticks and digs around in the dirt and piles of pine straw.  She runs and dashes about and sometimes takes an unpredictable notion to climb halfway up a tree.  On this day, she wanted to include Butters in her play but he displayed no interest in it.  He didn't have time for her nonsense because it was interfering with his cat nap.  

I enjoy the sights and sounds of my back yard.  I treasure the abundant signs of life in it.