Wonders of Nature

This beautiful "English" garden path is one of the many delightful sights at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA.

I love looking at the dahlias at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. :-) A new day truly dawns for Ipernity; many thanks to IMA and to all the members who gave of their money and time to keep it alive!

A dahlia bloom in my garden after a summer rain. This plant is very special to me as it came from the garden of my dear friend who died earlier this year. I think of her every time I see it. It is a beautiful representation of life that springs from death. Today I was able to renew my Club membership, and I feel like a new day has dawned for Ipernity. May our community grow and prosper! This image is dedicated to the members of Ipernity Members Association as a thank you for all the tremendous amount of work, time, and endurance to save this wonderful site from certain death!

I was touring Havre De Grace, Maryland on Christmas Eve. Unseasonably warm, wet weather created this captivating scene. The town is located at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. *Please see enlarged on black for better detail

Flowers produce the seeds of future generations.

Some of my beautiful garden iris. I'm not sure whether this is a Siberian or Japanese variety, but the bloom is smaller in size than a typical bearded iris. The month of May in my region has been rainy almost every day, so these blooms live their short lives dressed in watery beauty.

A damselfly I found at the local park near a pond. I had never photographed one before, so there was a lot of trial and error before I captured a photo I was happy with. ~ Best seen enlarged on black ~ Thank you all so much for your kind words and faves! :-))

A rather large bumble bee gathering nectar for the 'collective' at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. *Best seen large on black* Thank you so very much for your comments and faves, my friends; they are most appreciated! :-))

One of the many types of beautiful orchids seen at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. **Thank you so very much for your visits and kind words, dear friends and visitors; they are most appreciated! Have a wonderful day :-)

I recently rediscovered two lenses that I had but never used since I began snapping photos with my husband's Nikon over 2 years ago. You may ask, why haven't I tried using either of these lenses before now? Well, it was partly out of trepidation and partly because until now the lens I used all the time had sufficed my needs. It wasn't until the topic of birds came up as the subject of a recent TSC challenge that I realized my kit lens was not good enough for every situation. I sinced learned that you should use 300mm and up for decent bird shots (I had been using 55mm). So, after checking the old camera bag, I realized that I had both a 200 and 300mm lens! I played around a bit with the 300, learning what the optimal distance range is. When I get the time, I will try taking bird photos with it. This past weekend I decided to take the 200mm lens with me to Longwood Gardens and see what it could do. The results are the images seen above and in the note. They may not be the best dragonfly shots ever taken, but I am quite surprised and pleased by how well they turned out. I feel like I discovered a new world! LOL, do I sound like a novice or what? ;-)

One thing I love about autumn is when I see these fuzzy little caterpillars crawling on the sidewalks and streets looking for a warm place to overwinter. Known as the black-ended bear or the woolly bear, they are caterpillars of the Pyrrharctia Isabella (Isabella tiger moth). I spotted this little cutie on the sidewalk to my front door. Woolly Bears have also been used to foretell how cold winter will be. More information on these interesting creatures can be found here: www.almanac.com/content/woolly-bear-caterpillars-and-weather-prediction *Best viewed on black*

I was coming home from a business retreat today, and caught sight of this rain storm a few miles ahead of me. I had to stop and grab a shot of this spectacular sight! Sometimes camera phones are a blessing ;-)

Thank you so much for your comments and faves everyone! They are all most appreciated :-))

-Soundtrack to Life- "Serenade to Spring" by Secret Garden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWfunG_m96k Spring is my favorite time of year, and seeing these beautiful trees in bloom at Winterthur Gardens near Wilmington, Delaware were a real treat!

Detail of my grandson's pet Bearded Dragon lizard. Fascinating creatures, they are! For Colour of the Month: light orange and/or grey