Papillon et Pivoines - a photo on Flickriver

            In November last year, I had the great privilege of being taken to a private working flower farm, hidden in the heart of the Dandenong Ranges National Park in Silvan on the outskirts of Melbourne.  The growers specialise in crocuses, Japanese water irises, orchids, rare species of plants from South America and California, and beautiful heirloom peony roses.  As a departure gift after a lovely afternoon wandering the greenhouses and fields, the owners gave me a bunch of beautiful pink Sarah Bernhardt peonies which have wonderfully furled petals.  

As the weather was beautifully fine in the days following my visit, I took the peonies in their vase out onto the garden to photograph them against the beautiful blue sky dusted with white, fluffy clouds, and against the rich green of my lawn.  Imagine my delight, when a Heteronympha Merope (Common Brown) butterfly landed on one of the blooms just as I was photographing them!  Now, I will happily confess that I admire any photographer who is quick enough to capture a butterfly in a shot, as I am usually far too slow to do so myself.  However this butterfly was remarkably obliging and stayed on the bloom, basking in the sunshine, just long enough for me to take three photographs before it flitted away again!

The theme for the 3rd of August for “Smile on Saturday” is “combination of flora and fauna”.  I was originally going to use another shot of a bee amongst some spring blossoms, but as I used a similar shot for “Looking Close on Friday’s theme of “bugs & co” on the 5th of July, when I remembered these photos from my archive, I decided to make a photo collage and submit them instead.  I hope you like my choice for this week’s theme, and that it makes you smile!

Heteronympha Merope, or the Common Brown, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, endemic to the southern half of Australia. The wingspan is about sixty millimetres for males and seventy millimetres for females.

Paeonia lactiflora 'Sarah Bernhardt' is an exquisite herbaceous peony with ruffled, flamingo-pink double blooms that open from large and rounded buds. 'Sarah Bernhardt' is by far the best-known and most loved peony in the world. In fact, it’s so popular that it has become the face of peonies in general. This heirloom plant from 1906 is also delightfully fragrant.

Taken on: August 3, 2024

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combination of flora and fauna

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Camera: BeFunky (more info) (hide info)

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Software:	BeFunky Photo Editor
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