July... Already? 07-03-2024

I got up early and hit the Botanical Gardens at 8:00 AM in a futile attempt to beat the heat. Instead, the heat beat me up for two hours. The price for lower temperatures is incredibly high humidity. Since I consider this my Wednesday workout, I just grin and bare. Even in perfect weather, I usually only take two hours to cover the gardens, so I was there long enough.

This was the first shot of the day. I would hang this one on the wall.

I don't know what this is. It is in the veggie section. Maybe beet plants?

There are so many figs in the veggie area near the little amphitheater. There was a flock of grackles devouring them.

These were the absolute last of the berries for now.

I wonder if they have security cameras. Thinking of taking a grocery bag with me next week and doing a little harvesting.

These passion vines were hiding behind the demonstration kitchen building. I heard bees buzzing and went back there to investigate.

I got this shot before the birds got the tomatoes.

I just can't get a good one of this plant. They have claw-shaped clusters of blossoms. I will keep trying to capture it right.

I thought the blue bunny might make a good background. I wish the pink one wasn't there.

Same concept with this one, but it didn't work out as well. It looked much better in my head.

Here's another fail. I was fascinated by the water splashing on the bunny. There was an amazing rainbow effect that I couldn't catch in the shot.

I tried lots of angles. Just couldn't catch the rainbow. The colors on the bunny are the natural sheen off the mosaic tiles.

Passion fruit vines were blooming all over the gardens.

I should have gotten a shot of this plant from farther away. I was fascinated with the look of the tiny flowers. This is about 6 inches of a two - three foot stem.

Whatever this plant is, it does something to my brain. There is an amazing pattern that looks so "manicured". It doesn't come across in my photos. I'll keep trying with this one, as well. After all, the gardens are like a giant photo experiment laboratory.

Okay... This has fascinated me since I started coming here. I am amazed that last year's berries and this year's new berries are all on the same branch. That one that looks like a raisin may be from two years ago. I don't know.

This grass is so cool. I love the different colors. I took several photos, but this is the only one that the wind didn't ruin.

I like this shot. I like that the closer flowers are in focus. That was, of course, an accident, although I know there is a way to force the effect. I need to carry my little notebook with me next week.

Unlike a lot of butterflies, both sides of the wing are pretty on a Gulf Fritillary.

They are also called Passion butterflies.

I don't know what these are. They grown on an arbor vine that has beautiful yellow flowers. In the winter, these turn brown and look like handcrafted wooden decorations.

This is a Vine Sphinx Moth. It flew right in front of me and landed. I hoped it would move, because the glaring sun was right behind it making and shot incredibly difficult.

They are very large moths. As it flew by me, I mistook it for a humming bird.

They were doing a lot of work on one of the pyramids. It looked like they were removing the glass. Not sure what for.

This is a trumpet vine.

I don't remember the name of this vine. All that comes up in iNat is a bunch of birds.

Last week, one of the garden staffers saw my camera and asked if I wanted to see something interesting. She showed me several mutations on these flowers. My photos didn't come out well. This one did today. You are looking at a two-headed flower. They are conjoined on the same stem.

This is a milkweed seed pod. When the wind blew, several of the seeds would take flight.

This hummingbird was a real poser. He just sat there looking around.

Several mocking birds were feeding on the berries of the condalia trees.

This is a fascinating mushroom specimen.

This beautiful Coopers Hawk was in the tree right above my head devouring its prey. I couldn't figure out what it was, but I would bet it was bird. It was hard to photograph because of the sunlight behind it.

Of course, I had to check on my pomegranate trees.

These flowers are the size of a dinner plate!