Butterflies and Coneflowers

The gardens on Capitol Hill were always filled with butterflies this time of the year. The flowers by the Smithsonian Castle always seemed to attract them the most. Our little patio garden also had its share of them. Not many butterflies make it up to the higher level of our condo in northern Virginia even though we have some balcony flower baskets. But luckily we have a park just a couple of blocks away where a lot of cone flowers bloom. On one of the mornings we passed by the flowers m there were two competing butterflies - a yellow and a blue. They didn’t seem to mind our observing them. I’ve had the luck of coaxing butterflies on to my finger and it is a sight to see. They are very pretty, but even more so when you zoom in to see the wing design up close. It’s such a beautiful painting that would be hard to replicate. Nature continues to thrive in these weird times. Thank goodness we are still able to enjoy it.