I just recently discovered the Hartman Arboretum, which is less than a mile from my house. The Hartman family own about 20 acres and no longer farm it, so Mr. Hartman decided to talk to the Master Gardeners and find out how to turn the land into an arboretum. They are only open to the public one day a week....Thursday....and I always forget about it.
Here is a sample of one of the garden beds. This area was full of butterlies and bees and such, so I got distracted from the flowers!
I saw both the black and yellow forms of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. I spent about an hour chasing them around the garden and they were very uncooperative at posing with their wings nicely spread open right side up for me ......oh well.
I tended to get a lot of what I call "upside down" views. They love the Button Bush!
The Yellow Swallowtail variety
I tried cropping this shot to look closer at the body.
I liked this shot best with 2 of them on one flower! The top one has a damaged lower wing....mostly missing.
I seem to get more undersides then topsides.
This little Skipper was also flitting around.....Silver Spotted Skipper (I think)
One of those Clearwing Hummingbird moths was hovering around!
Lots of bees!......here on a Passion Flower
.....another bee
......and two more!
Here is a sample of one of the garden beds. This area was full of butterlies and bees and such, so I got distracted from the flowers!
I saw both the black and yellow forms of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. I spent about an hour chasing them around the garden and they were very uncooperative at posing with their wings nicely spread open right side up for me ......oh well.
I tended to get a lot of what I call "upside down" views. They love the Button Bush!
The Yellow Swallowtail variety
I tried cropping this shot to look closer at the body.
I liked this shot best with 2 of them on one flower! The top one has a damaged lower wing....mostly missing.
I seem to get more undersides then topsides.
This little Skipper was also flitting around.....Silver Spotted Skipper (I think)
One of those Clearwing Hummingbird moths was hovering around!
Lots of bees!......here on a Passion Flower
.....another bee
......and two more!I took lots of flower pictures, too, but will save them for tomorrow since this is already quite long. It is really a nice place and I intend to go back the next time I remember that it is Thursday and they are open.....I'm sure the changing seasons will be wonderful. There are a couple of ponds and some woods as well as the flower beds.
%2B(2).jpg)
16 comments:
It surely is a good place. Lovely photos (love the passion flower - we called them "maypops" growing up.)
WOW, how lucky you are to have such a lovely place so close to home. I'm still looking for Butterflies, but there just aren't many around.
I'll be waiting for more great picutres.
Helen and Becky: It's a lovely place and I will have to try to remember to go back more. I was thrilled to see the butterfles and even though I did more chasing then good photography, it was great to see so many creatures on the flowers. I actually didn't like some of the flowers that seemed to attract the most insects. I thought those dark pink flowers in the last photo were ugly.
What an interesting bush ... that button bush.
Cicero: I didn't know what it was until a few weeks ago when someone identified some other pictures I took of it. The flowers are really fascinating and obviously it attracts bees and butterflies and moths and other bugs!
You have yet another wonderful location to visit and find beautiful flowers and nature creatures to photograph! The Swallowtails are lovely as are the Button Bush Flowers. I shall have to check and see if it will grow in our zone too.
Seems to be a gold mine for Butterflies. My kind of place.
Wonderful images!
Cheers, Klaus
P.S.: As with others - I make a remark to the comment restrictions.
While it's the right choice to disallow anonymous comments - it's problematic to allow only those with a Blogger ID - not everyone has one. So many might just turn away...
Oh my!! What a wonderful lot of butterflies and bugs you have here Mary!! I cannot decide which one I like best.
Those butterflys are stunning Mary and great close up shots.
Wonderful pictures, Mary. This looks like a fantastic place. I loved seeing all the flowers and butterflies.
Beautiful photos. My mom loves passion flowers.
--JB
Ann: Thanks! I always think about you when I take butterfly pictures :-)
Klaus: Thanks! There did seem to be a lot there to chase around.
Joan: thanks! I guess we are both into bugs right now :-)
Mike: Thanks...I try!
Lin:It is a very nice place and one that I'll have to go back to soon.
Enjoyed seeing the swallowtails, I've only seen the yellow ones out here.
Lots of wonderful things to see there Mary, glad you found it!!
Looks like a very nice place to visit. One thing I've discovered about photographing butterflies is you have to be patient. I've spent many hours tromping around meadows trying to get good photographs.
I love arboretums. Ours has peacocks that get most of my camera time (smile). I really love the macro shots of the butterflies. Just beautiful!
Post a Comment