Raindrops on Pretty Flowers for Floral Friday

Happy floral Friday dear friends! I took these photos in my yard just after a rainstorm earlier today. Please let me know which you like best. As you can see in the photo above our black eyed Susan flowers are at their peak. I believe they are the official Maryland state flower. They do seem to thrive here, even with our heavy clay soil.

It's a real treat to grow zinnias (and any flower) from seed and even more so when I get to see butterflies enjoying the blooms. Our zinnias and echinacea plants seem to be our top butterfly attracting plants (although the joe pye weed, obedient plants, milkweed, butterfly bushes, cosmos, lantana and some of our other plants all attract them too). God sure has gifted us with many joys on this earth!

A moth enjoying our red and yellow (bicolor) marigolds.

 A rare yellow echinacea (coneflower) bloom.

A surprise late blooming day lily makes an appearance. I think it's a baby from one of our larger plants that flowered earlier in the year. That's all for this floral Friday's post. Hope you have a blessed weekend!

Baby and Adolescent Gorillas for Wild Wednesday

Ben (my fantastic husband and partner in photographic fun) took these great gorilla photos on our last trip to the National Zoo. The first picture is of the baby gorilla and the second two are of an adolescent male gorilla. The baby is now three years old and sometimes you can catch him rolling down the hill in his habitat (which he thoroughly enjoys).

The volunteer at the gorilla habitat said that this adolescent male gorilla already weighs more than 200 pounds and could easily add another 100 before maturing fully.

It was a super hot day at the zoo but the gorillas were having a good time hanging out in their habitat.

Hope you enjoyed this week's Wild Wednesday feature. May God bless you!

National Arboretum Flowers & Insects for Floral Friday

Red zinnia: Photo by Phyllis Wheeler

A walk through the National Arboretum always leads to pleasant surprises and summer is full of them. They have a whole bunch of zinnias in the National Herb Garden. We have red zinnias in our own garden but none as big as the one pictured above.

Yellow flower cluster: Photo by Phyllis Wheeler

These yellow flowers were also in the National Herb Garden section of the U.S. National Arboretum (USNA).

Tiny jasmine flowers: Photo by Phyllis Wheeler

 This fancy jasmine smelled nice to me and I don't usually like the scent of jasmine.

Butterfly feeding: Photo by Ben Wheeler

 My husband caught this beautiful butterfly feeding from an orange zinnia flower.

Moth in purple: Photo by Ben Wheeler

He also got this striking shot of a moth on what I think is a bachelor button flower (if you know for sure the name of the flower please share).

Hope you enjoyed this Floral Friday's featured photos. May God bless you!

Baby Howler Monkey Photos for Wild Wednesday

Baby black howler monkey: Photo by Ben Wheeler

This adorable baby black howler monkey was born March 22, 2012 and is on view for the public at the National Zoo.

Upside down baby black howler monkey: Photo by Ben Wheeler

 The baby monkey's tail is already surprisingly strong, enabling it to hang upside down.

Baby black howler monkey snuggling: Photo by Ben Wheeler

While the baby monkey would wander away from its mother for short periods, most of the time it liked to be close to her.

Mother and baby black howler monkey: Photo by Ben Wheeler

It was a blessing to see these beautiful black howler monkey family moments. Hope you enjoyed our Wild Wednesday feature of the wee. Thanks to my wonderful husband for sharing his photos.

If you love animal photos you'll enjoy these related posts:
Lion log hog
Cute cheetah cubs
Andean bear and lion tongues
Bear claw cleaning
Sneaky fish grabbing birds

May God bless you this week and always!

More Cute Cheetah Cub Photos

We went back to the zoo to see the cute baby cheetahs at the National Zoo again and friends have asked to see more pictures so here you go. I love how one of the cheetah's tongues is sticking out in the photo above.

All photos by me (any photos in any of my blogs are by me unless specified otherwise). The cheetah's handler said they're 13 weeks old, male and female and will be named after the fastest American male and female runners in this year's Olympics (I think in the 100 meter race).

 Baby cheetah running toward sibling cheetah.

 Cheetah cub enjoying the high ground advantage.

Baby cheetah cooling off in the shade. Not that they stayed still for very long. The cheetah cubs were an absolute joy to watch and now they're on view for the public most days at 10 am and 1 pm (for an hour each session), weather and cheetah cub health permitting. If you live near Washington DC these precious cubs are a must see. May God bless you!

Lantana Trees for Floral Friday

I've been wanting something tall for in front of our dining room windows and came across these lantana trees this week. Regularly $49.99 each they were on clearance for only $12.50 each! So I got all three for less than the price of one. They're working out great and already attracting bees (and hopefully, soon butterflies too).

Here's a close up of a lantana flower cluster. We grew a lot of lantana when we lived in Arizona and they can handle the crazy hot heat there so I figure they can handle it here too. They won't survive the winter unless I bring them inside though (Ben says no to this so far but I'm trying to convince him so if you agree that they're worth saving please let me know and I'll pass your comments on to him).

Here's a photo of the lantana trees from an angle that shows you more of their height. Now I'll just need to find three matching pots for them. Happy Friday and weekend to you all. May God bless you!

Cute Cheetah Cubs and Wild Wednesdays

Cute cheetah cubs thrill the members only crowd at the National Zoo
Photo by Phyllis Wheeler

I was blessed and overjoyed to have the opportunity to see the two month old cheetah cubs at the National Zoo today. Along with my idea for "Floral Fridays," I thought I'd add "Wild Wednesdays" and thought the cheetah cubs would be a fantastic first feature. The cubs can be seen my zoo members only until Saturday when they will be on view for the general public, generally at 10am and 1pm for one hour each session (cheetah health and weather permitting). 

Baby cheetah hides in grass
Photo by Phyllis Wheeler

Their keepers took turns watching over them and the cheetahs tended to stay on the same side of the habitat as the keepers.

Photo by Phyllis Wheeler

The cheetah cubs were full of energy as they raced around their new habitat, stalking and chasing each other and apparently having a great time.

Photo by Phyllis Wheeler

It was truly a treat to watch these adorable cheetah cubs joyfully bound around their habitat. If you live in the Washington DC area I hope you'll get a chance to see these cute cheetah babies. May God bless the little cheetahs and may He bless you!

Related posts:

• Lion log hog
• Fish grabbing bird photos
• Lion and bear tongues
• Andean bear cubs' birthday bash
• Funny caracal (cat) Christmas photos