A new butterfly visited the Joe Pye Weed today. Can anyone identify it for us?
Texture, like color, presents itself to our eye and fingertips absolutely everywhere we turn in the garden.
Every petal, leaf, trunk and bit of gravel or soil present intriguing textures for us to explore and enjoy.
But so do the creatures who live here with us.
A grasshopper “hides out” on Creeping Jenny.
And of all the creatures buzzing and skittering around the garden today, our welcome guest, hummingbird moth, presented the softest and most inviting texture.
Hummingbird Moth feeding on Lantana in the garden this morning.
Would you love to reach and and stroke its velvety back?
Hummingbird moths are much calmer guests than hummingbirds.
Though their movements from flower to flower are so similiar that many people mistake the moths for the birds; the moths are less skittish around humans with cameras.
This guy allowed me to take perhaps 20 shots over several minutes, asking only the nourishment of Lantana nectar in return.
The hummingbirds who interrupted the photo shoot buzzed in and out before I could focus on them; chasing one another away from these Lantana flowers, and across the roof of our house towards the hummingbird delicacies growing around in the back.
They are also silky soft; immensely “petable” creatures… but I’ve yet to master the art of hummingbird whispering to draw them to land on a finger.
And so my focus returned to the little hummingbird moth; the insect who masquerades as a bird.
When in doubt, look closely for antennae, compound insect eyes, and clear wings. This identifies the creature as an insect, not a true bird.
This is the first one we’ve seen this season.
It is unlikely he is alone, so we will keep an eye out for his companions.
This Painted Lady butterfly shared the Lantana with our Hummingbird Moth.
Other visitors sporting interesting textures today included butterflies, dragonflies, a grasshopper, and bees.
The first of the lifeless bees we found today rests on a Pelargonium leaf. Glass topped stepping stone, made last winter, in the background.
I was especially disturbed to find several lifeless bees, their bodies resting on leaves.
It is most unusual to find a dead bee here in the garden.
It may be another sign of the advancing season.
We’ve been trying for weeks to identify this shrubby “volunteer.” Does anyone know this plant? The fruit have been hard and dark purple for weeks. Now they are swelling and turning red. What a wonderful pebbly texture to their skin.
Just as a few leaves have begun to show gold and red, warning that autumn is coming sooner than we expect; so too the animals begin to respond to the ever turning wheels of time.
Rose of Sharon, still in bloom, with a visitor.
But our garden was alive for another summer day, animated and buzzing with a satisfying array of creatures.
Male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly
Scaly skinks climbed the walls and window screens of the house. Shiny blue black wasps played in the grasses.
Bright red cardinals, and their mates, foraged among the ripening Hickory nuts.
Dragonfly has wonderfully intricate texture in his wings.
And finally, the garden has come alive with several species of butterflies.
Painted Lady on Salvia, with culinary sage with its pebbly texture behind.
Noticing the varying textures of all this life is simply another way to appreciate its beauty.
Another way to drink it all in, while August lasts.
Words and Photos by Woodland Gnome 2014
Weekly One Word Photo Challenge: Texture
Forest Garden 