A FEW FLOWERS TODAY

 These photos were left over from our trip to Green Spring Gardens in October.  I remember being very pleasantly surprised that there were many still in bloom.  There were a lot of bees enjoying them also.

This one looked past its showy self but the bee didn't seem to mind.

The leaves are gone on this Royal Lily, but the remaining pods are very interesting.  I have never noticed them in this stage before.  Other names are Regal Lily, King's Lily, Christmas Lily and Trumpet Lily, with a botanical name Lilium regale.  It is a perennial plant known for its fragrant and large white trumpet flowers.  A prolific bloomer, it can produce up to 25 blossoms per stem.  

The next plant has always interested me.  It is a Crimson pitcherplant, also known as Purple trumpet-leaf and White pitcherplant to name two.  Its botanical name is Sarracenia leucophylla.

It is a carnivorous plant that feeds mostly on insects. It blooms in spring with nodding red flowers and tall pitcher-shaped leaves. Native to coastal Florida and Alabama, and commonly found growing in moist and low-nutrient pine savannas but can be grown in a container or bog garden.  

The bushes were full of bright red berries, and called Winterberry and has a lot of other names.  Some are Winterberry holly, Feverbark, Swamp winterberry, Virginia Winterberry, False Alder and Black Alder to name a few.  Its botanical name is Ilex verticillata, and is commonly grown in eastern gardens of the United States.

Next is the Zinnia, also known as Common zinnia, Elegant zinnia, Youth-and-Old Age and Wild Zinnia to name a few.  Its botanical name is Zinnia elegans.  The genus name Zinnia is also often used as its common name.  In fact, the name Zinnia is given to the plant in memory of the German botanist, Johann Gottfried Zinn.  

Next is the Globe amaranth, and other common names are Devil's clover, Red globe everlasting, Makhamali, Vadamalli, St. Francis' cord, Batchelor button and Thousand day red, to name a few. Botanical name Gomphrena globosa.  According to my plant app it is an edible flowering plant native to South America, and attracts insects including butterflies and bees.  

The bees were very active on this Blue anise sage.  Other names for the flower are Anise-scented sage, Salvia and Brazilian sage.  Botanical name Salvia guarantica.  

It is a flowering perennial that attracts bees, hummingbirds, butterflies and resists deer. Very common in gardens and easy to grow.

The bees drew my attention to this plant first.  All the other bees were busy flying from flower to flower, this one was very still. 

When I arrived, it was on its own and appeared to be asleep, remaining motionless even with all the activity around it for several minutes, and who knows how long before. The smaller bee eventually landed, and much to my surprise it was almost like it was harassing the bee. 

The smaller bee seemed to be trying to wake up the larger bee. Eventually it woke up and the smaller bee left. It would be interesting to talk to an expert.

I have other photos to share but will leave them for a while.

This sweet little flower was walking around the green with its human.  Hard to see the expression on Sweetie's face but they both seemed to be enjoying the exercise.

Thanks for stopping by 

and I hope your day is a great one!