I asked the gardeners to “take a little off the top” of my remaining Yellow Bell Tree up front that this winter’s (yes, rainy season is called winter here) rain had caused to shoot up rapidly and high, blocking my scenic view. And typically Tico, one of the young men scurried up the tree with his machete and whacked away! I would not have left that bare branch, but it will soon have new branches and leaves. And my view is opened up again. I love my gardeners!
Click image to enlarge.
See more vistas in my VISTAS Photo Gallery from all over Costa Rica.
In a Blur – How I feel 2 days after surgery – but all is well – saw doc today. Physical Therapy starts soon. And photo from my garden yesterday is a red ginger with background blurred. Happy day to you!
The Gulf Fritillary Butterfly is found in the states touching the Gulf of Mexico, especially Florida and South Texas, all the way south through Central America and the northern edges of South America. They love to feed on my Lantana (Porterweed) plants shown in these photos in my garden and also love the Passionflower when available (I have none), thus its secondary name of Passion Butterfly.
The above average rain this year has helped my flowers which seems to bring more butterflies and maybe more varieties. June and July are the peak months for butterflies here, meaning they may decrease in number soon. I include two photos to show the difference in the bright orange top of wings and the underside with silver/white spots. Beautiful!
Gulf Fritillary or Passion Butterfly
What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly. ~Richard Bach
See also my Photo Gallery Butterflies and Mothswith more than 70 species photographed here in Costa Rica.
I also have a little 7X7 inch photo book titled My First 50 Butterflies in Costa Rica. You can preview all pages electronically for free at this link. Best viewed full screen for bigger photos.
Report on Tonight’s Surgery will come in tomorrow’s post, Tuesday.
This name or label is the closest match found in online searches with the scientific name of Ganyra josephina, found from South Texas all the way through Central America to northern South America. It is similar to the Felder’s White found in the book A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of Mexico and Central America with scientific name Ganyra phaloe (which name I almost gave it). Another web page had a similar butterfly labeled Godart’s White, almost identical to Felder’s, both having a little brown edge around the upper wings which mine does not have. Mine more closely matches the “Giant White” photos and descriptions online but is not in Swift’s book.
Butterflies are so difficult to identify, especially in Costa Rica where we seem to have millions of different ones! This was photographed in my garden in Atenas, Costa Rica.
See also my Photo Gallery Butterflies and Moths with more than 70 species photographed here in Costa Rica.
I also have a little 7X7 inch photo book titled My First 50 Butterflies in Costa Rica. You can preview all pages electronically for free at this link. Best viewed full screen for bigger photos.
“There’s no place like home” for garden and butterfly photos, well . . . some of the time. 4 simple shots right out my door, one morning. Click to see larger.
If you count the unofficial paths and trails there are possibly 5 miles of walking/hiking ways within the Xandari property. And I think I have walked over every portion except a little section that dead ends along the river. Around the villas and through the gardens is paved while through the farm and to the waterfalls is dirt paths, sometimes muddy this time of year! I came back to my room with muddy shoes every day! Just a sampling of trails and I did not include some grass-covered paths. Trails are a great way to immerse yourself in nature!
West Indian Buckeye Butterfly
My Garden, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
I am glad that we are getting a lot more butterflies now! I had forgotten that it was mainly in June & July that the butterflies were numerous. I have a bad photo of one of these West Indian Buckeys, but this is my first good photo that shows the beauty of its coloration and design.
PREPARING NEW WEBSITE/BLOG AT WORDPRESS
I will be working on my new website at charliedoggett.net for a long time it seems, though my phone appointment with a specialist Tuesday may move me forward a little quicker. That may be when I move this blogger.com blog into WordPress. We will see. I have started a practice blog in WordPress, but it will not be the main one until they are merged there. The merging is suppose to include moving my subscriptions, but I never totally trust computers or programmers, so be prepared to sign up again if necessary!
Then I will consider moving my photo gallery into the same website so everything is together. ¡Poco a poco! Little by little!
Back in November 2016 I did a similar post on seldom seen spots of a garden and wrote: “In the forest or my garden, one must look through tiny windowsto see behind the leaves.” Again I share what I see in my garden, plain & simple yet full of fantasy!
This is just a small sampling of many more photos in Arenal Observatory trip gallery: Flowers & Tropical Plants. Arenal Observatory Lodge grounds are a Botanical Gardens!
And if you like tropical plants but live “up north,” check out how you can go tropical in your house, year-around, 16 Tropical Plants to Grow Indoors. A reader wrote and suggested this.
