pretty in pink

A tulip, still tightly closed, is moving closer to open petals. I love watching flowers, seeing changes from day to day.

perched

A beauty in black and white, a butterfly perched on a leaf draws my eyes.

cool, wet

The weekend was cool and wet. I walked in the rain this morning but when the sky seemed to be clearing in mid-afternoon I headed out walking. I was on a search for flowers.

The air occasionally filled with tiny droplet of water, remaining reasonably dry as I wandered the grounds of The Stevens-Coolidge Place. I found a few tulips about to open, some clumps of daffodils standing tall.

Just after I started home it started raining (again). I stopped to pull out the rain cover for my camera bag and to pull the hood of my rain jacket up over my head. By the time I arrived at home the rain had almost stopped.

A few hours later... I just peeked out the window to see if the sound I'm hearing is rain. It is.

early tulip

The daffodils are in full bloom and the tulips are starting to show color. Yesterday I found an early tulip in white with a background of yellow contributed by the daffodils.

a mystery flower

It's a mystery flower, in white tipped with red. It must be something butterflies enjoy since I found it at Magic Wings last weekend.

Mystery solved! this is a white bleeding heart vine with a proper name of Clerodendrum thomsoniae. Many thanks to the folks on Google+ who helped to identify this beautiful flower.

splash of pink

Bright pink pops from a sea of green leaves.

at Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory

upside down

Do butterflies have sticky feet? I find it fascinating that they seem to like standing upside down, hanging from leaves.

As I searched for information I found www.learnaboutbutterflies.com. If you're curious about these beautiful creatures that's an interesting site to explore.

forsythia

Bright yellow of forsythia in bloom adds a pop of color to the still emerging spring season.

flitter, flutter, fly

This morning felt like it was a good time to feed my desire for color and warmth. It was still pretty nippy outside when I started driving to the west, heading for the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory.

As soon as I walked into the warmth of the conservatory I saw butterflies in the air, flying, resting, posing, sharing their beauty. I wandered, camera in hand, sometimes capturing photos, sometimes just standing and watching.

More photos from today can be seen in the gallery on the wings of butterflies starting with this photo and ending here.

I must have flowers

I think Claude Monet said this for me: "I must have flowers, always, and always.". That's how I feel right now - I need flowers and I need bright colors.

I headed to The Stevens-CoolidgePlace this morning to see the current selection of flowers in bloom. I found glory-of-the-snow, crocus, and daffodils scattered through the grass, then greenhouse-sheltered color pulled me inside for a few minutes to enjoy a bit of bright pink.