busyYellow coneflower is a native Illinois species. This one is in my wildflower garden.
Here is another flower in the wildflower garden. I think it's some variety of Gaillardia.
These little grasshoppers were in the herb patch in the butterfly meadow, near the sage.
I managed to find several more black swallowtail caterpillars. This is a very tiny one in the "bird poop" stage, feeding on parsley in the butterfly meadow.
These are mid-range ones feeding on Queen Anne's lace in the butterfly meadow and near the road.
This one is quite large, feeding on Queen Anne's lace in the butterfly meadow.
That Darn Black Butterfly taunted me again today, but I managed to get a distant picture. I suspect it is a black swallowtail just because there are so many caterpillars around. Somebody has to be responsible for that!
Some of the Queen Anne's lace, by the way, is well over my head now. This is eye level.
This is a tall one, probably at least six feet high. It is silhouetted against an evening sky, from a few days ago.
One flower was visited by this big black wasp-looking insect.
Echinacea is now blooming in the butterfly meadow!
Another butterfly meadow flower -- I think this is black-eyed susan.
The darrow blackberries are getting ripe now.
Sometimes spiderwebs catch the sun nicely.
This is Giant Foxtail, an exotic grass found throughout much of the Midwest now. I took this photo on the patio, but there is some elsewhere in the yard and along the road.
Sunset, from a few days ago. This is the view northwest from the streetside edge of the yard.
I have some more photos, including:
* Lots more of the sunset, in stages
* More of the caterpillars
* Queen Anne's lace in various stages of bud and bloom
* Closeups of echinacea
* Long views of the wildflower garden
* Bees on flowers
Several artists have posted samples of their sketch pages, with more sketches being available if people want to sponsor some. I'm trying something similar with photography. So if you want to see more, $1 will get you two extra photos. (You can use the PayPal button on my profile page, or contact me for other options.) Your choice of 1/4 size like these, or full-size; I'll try to remember to put them behind a cut. Doug's camera seems to be shooting at 1600x1200, and I usually reduce the size to 400x300.
July 2 2010, 12:58:07 UTC 10 years ago
Thank you!
July 2 2010, 17:15:59 UTC 10 years ago