Ghost Tree

While my son and I were walking around in his backyard, he showed me this tree. I thought it would make a great shot for Halloween. I know it's a little early, but I couldn't wait to post it.

Most of my friends on Facebook, Flickr and in my meetup groups know I have a fascination with trees that have faces on them. I have so many of these. It's sort of like people that see things in cloud formations.

When I come across these, I am compelled to photograph them. What do you think about my ghost tree?

Tree Bark Figures

I've always had a fascination with faces and figures in tree bark the way some people have with clouds. These three images were all found in my back yard.

I think the first one looks like a pig or an old Asian man. I can't make up my mind which. Maybe one of you can tell me. This one was found in my Camphor tree.

The next one looks like an angry old man. He's on the side of a Maleleuca tree.

The last one looks like a Victorian woman on my Avocado tree. One of these days, I think I'll paint her. Wouldn't that be neat? I'm wondering, though, if acrylic paints would hurt the tree, or if the lacquer covering would hurt the tree. Anyone have any idea?

Let me know your thoughts.

What is This?

Of all the time I've been on nature trails and for how long I've lived in Florida, I've seen these on trees many times, but for the life of me can't figure out what these are, or what kind of tree this is?

I'm so confused about this because I don't know if this is a flower bud, a nut, a fruit or what. I'm posting it here in hopes that someone who sees it can identify it.

I love the furry texture when I touch them, and I think they're beautiful--what ever they are. They are in bloom now and I'm in St Petersburg, FL.

Any help to identify this would be appreciated. I can't even Google it because I don't know if it's a flower, a nut or a fruit. It's pretty hard to Google something if you don't know what it is.

White Tipped Black Moths

This was taken in my back yard in St Petersburg, FL. I've never seen these little moths before and I couldn't find them in any of the insect books I have. Finally, I gave up and Googled, "black moth, Florida" and finally came up with the name of these little guys.

They are so cool with their red thorax and black abdomen and, as you can see they're pretty small. They really love my Mexican Sunflower tree, too. They were just all over it. Each one landing on a flower and staying there for quite some time.

To judge their relative size, I've included the whole flower in this photo. The flower is about 4 - 5" in diameter, so by comparison, these are pretty small moths. They're easier to see if you click on the photos to see a larger version.

These were shot after 4:00 pm when the sun was pretty low in the sky. Especially when photographing yellows, the sun needs to be lower in the sky and not shining directly on the flower so the yellow doesn't blow out or become over saturated.

Mexican Sunflower

This plant was started by a small, bare stick from my friend's plant. I put it in the ground about a year ago. Today, it stands about 15 ft high and 8 ft wide. The blossoms grow on the ends of the branches, so the outside of the tree is covered with these beautiful sunflower-like flora. Each blossom is about 4-5 inches in diameter.

Mexican Sunflowers are very attractive to butterflies, so I have an added benefit that I can also photograph many species of butterflies when they light on the blooms.

There are many varieties, some are bright orange, some reddish and all the colors in between.

Loyce

White Flowers

Usually I tell you about what I've photographed. Today, I'm asking you to tell me.

I captured these flowers on a shrub just outside of the hospital where I work. I have quite a few books on wild flowers and garden flowers, but I haven't been able to identify this one.

Anyone have an idea what it is?

If you enjoy my blogs and my photos you can visit my website for more. It can be found here.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. Please leave a comment.

UPDATE: I found the name of the flower, it is a White Crepe Myrtle. Thanks, Larry, for your help.