A Few Gems from the Herb Garden at Cornell Botanical Garden

 
Finally squeezed in a morning visit to a favorite garden in Ithaca.  The gardeners were busy watering to counter the extremely dry summer.  I was not disappointed.  In no particular order, here are my best results.

Everyone loves the sight of a huge black swallowtail.

Here's a secret.   Don't chase the butterfly. Move a chair close to flowers it's been visiting and let it come to you.  I was about 5 feet from it.

Be selective in choosing among the many flowers available.  Picked this because of the  two large leaves- one in upper left corner and the other at the lower center. There was no ID tag that made sense; likely an anemone.

 Next is just a blaze of color-rich yellow and red.

 

Always love Black-eyed Susans.  I see then on my bike route, thriving in a weed field.  It's brush- hogged each summer, and they just come back.   I chose this position because of the deep purple in back.

 

 Finally, a simple composition with a single delicately colored Zinnia touched by some rich blues.

I was so excited to finally get a photo outing, that I sort of lost my concentration and forgot a few details in the plan.  When I stepped out of my RAV4 at the garden, I was still wearing my bedroom slippers. No one noticed.

Best regards,

 Paul