florjus blog
Summer 2024
Burdock (Arctium Lappa)
I never get a good picture of the magnificent basal leaves of burdock. Leaves can be huge with wavy edges. They're fabulous in person but not so much in photos. Well, not my photos.
The spiky green flowers are photogenic. Look how they catch the light.
It's a botanical outlaw in the US. And prized as an edible and medicinal plant in Asia.
My First Eastern Amberwing Dragonfly
I wasn't looking for dragonflies or any other insect. Then this tiny orange winged marvel landed on a faded thistle flower.
Here's the male of the species. Females have dark spotted translucent wings.
Dragonflies aren't pollinators. They eat the insects people readily swat: flies, gnats, mosquitoes and such. So please don't swat the dragonflies.
A Silent Meadow of Common Teasel (Dipsacus Fullonum)
In past spring and summers, the teasel flowers hummed with bees. Butterflies hovered and flitted around the flowers (I made a stop motion video of it). Now... it's mostly silent. And butterflies sightings are few and far between.
It's still a beautiful meadow. Especially when backlit by the summer sun.
Teasel flower heads glow in the setting sun.
A lone bee helps itself to teasel pollen.
Puffy creeping field thistle seed heads hug the legs of teasel flowers in the golden hour.