Wildflowers and Butterflies

These photographs were taken yesterday on our farm on either side of our driveway and adjacent to our hay meadow.  The top photo is of what I believe to be a viceroy butterfly on scarlet clover.  Scarlet clover is very prolific here, growing along the roadsides.  Ours is almost two feet tall.

Beyond the clover are the Texas bluebonnets.  They are plentiful this year, due to our spring rains.  A two-inch rain a couple weeks ago caused the grass to grow so high it is practically hiding the bluebonnets.  The 'bonnets will be gone in another week or so.  I've enjoyed them so much this year.

This zebra swallowtail fluttered his wings so rapidly I had a hard time getting a good photo of him.  He allowed me to get very close however.  It was like he was saying, "Get as close as you want.  You still won't get a good picture. Ha, ha, ha!"  He was more interested in the dandelion blossoms than he was the bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and scarlet clover, all only partially visible in the shallow depth of field.

Thanks to TexWis Girl we have Indian paintbrush this year for the first time ever.  She sent us seeds last fall when I mentioned I could not find any for sale on the Internet due to the drought.  We've been blessed with maybe up to 30 plants on either side of the driveway (even though we only sowed them on one side!).  Thank you, dear friend.  My mother is so proud of them.  She counts them every day!

For any of you who do not follow my OTHER BLOG (I'm one of those people who just need two!) there are some closeups of the bluebonnets you can see by clicking HERE.