Flowers with “Friends”

We’re nearing the end of 2023’s Dog Days of summer. I hope our readers have weathered these days well. Some may have done just that. When my oldest son was little, he used to say he loved hot days so much, he wanted to be a lizard sunning on a rock in the desert. Others, myself included, look forward to those cool, crisp autumn days.

I’ve collected images of various beautiful things for our readers along my 2023 travels. You’ll find some friends interspersed among or integrated within the images. I hope you find joy in these little photographs I took.

Gabriel’s Garden
(My yard)

Asiatic Orange Lily/ Fire Lily/ Jimmy's Bane/ St. John's Lily

Golden Spindle/ Fortune's Spindle/ Emerald 'n Gold

Spanish Bluebells

Yellow Iris

Pink Dahlia/ Dahlia pinnata

"Honey do chore" - Honeybee on a peppermint flower

Echinacea/ coneflower/ purple coneflower

Star of Bethlehem

Spanish Bluebells, perspective

White Morning Glory

"Two friends" on Gladiolus/ Gladiola flower

"Big world" - tiny gnat on a Yellow and Red Asiatic Lily

"Digging in" - Bumble bee on a coneflower

Black-eyed Susans

East Tennessee
(My house)

Woody [Terrier mix]

Pothos/ Arrowhead plant

Chysanthemum, red carnation

Molly [Deer Chihuahua] - Image by Tom Anderson

Carnation/ red carnation

Golden pothos/ Hunter's robe/ Solomon's Islands Ivy/ Devil's vine/ Devil's ivy

Bouquet

Ruby Ball/ Red Cap/ Moon Cactus

Painted-Leaf Begonia

Mums

North Carolina
(Brother’s yard and farm)

Charlie [Mastiff] - a Sweetheart

Gardenia

Red Sunflower

"What's your problem, Lady?"

"Tolerating the camera" - Ketana [Mastiff] - another sweetheart

Yellow Sunflower

"Just wait'll I get my hands on that rooster of mine."

White Sunflower

Yellow Sunflower

Yellow Daylily at NC rest stop

"Meaty finger . . . if I could just stretch my neck a little more . . ."

Pink-red Crape Myrtle [I think] in front of a pine tree

"Don't bother me. I'm resting." - rescue pig

Sweet face

Seven Islands State Birding Park
(Kodak, TN)

Daisies

Box Elder Beetles' parliament meeting

Thistle

Milkweed beetle grazing and tootling along on a milkweed plant

"Just hanging around" - Salvia plant with Cloudless Sulphur butterfly

Just a brief pose

"Waiting" - Yellow garden spider

Spiderwort or Bluejacket

"Just landed" Silver spotted skipper butterfly [I think] on a daisy

A bumble bee works hard on a bee balm plant

"Oh, hello human." A Leaf-footed bug on a thistle flower

Cumberland Gap
(Virginia)

Pink Rose with "friends"

Terracotta Rabbit

Impatiens

Front porch view of downtown Cumberland Gap from a really gorgeous Air B&B.