Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are beautiful in any situation, but when you surround them with red, orange, and yellow flowers, they absolutely explode with color. I was thrilled when I spotted this Monarch during a short visit to Green Spring Gardens this past Saturday morning. The butterfly was initially quite skittish and flew all around before finally settling on what I believe to be some kind of lantana flower. I had to maneuver around to try to get a good shooting position, but the butterfly stayed put for a minute and accommodated me. I was super happy when I managed to include some of the colorful flowers in the background and I just love the way that the colors work so well together.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Beautiful. We saw one in the Sunflower fields but it refused to stay still for us, so we ju admired its beauty as it flew. 🙂
Thanks. That is my experience so often. Monarchs seem to like to fly a long way in between stops, so it is hard to chase them when they are flying. 🙂
Yes, we thought surely he had to stop and rest but nope!
Wow Mike! That is one Colorful Image! Very Nice!
You’re batting 1000 with color these days. Beautiful.
Thanks, Michael. Usually I am traipsing about in the wild where such bright colors are uncommon, but a trip to a garden allowed me to capture some butterfly shots against a super colorful backdrop.
Wow!! Beautiful photo Mike. 😍❤️
Thanks, Patty Anne.
A Monarch Butterfly was visiting in my garden this afternoon, enjoying all the flowers that were specifically planted in the hope of luring bees and butterflies. I wished that I had my camera to photograph him to share with Benjamin. Admittedly, it could never begin to compare with this gorgeous photo that you have captured. The colors are magnificent as presented here, even more so in the enlarged photo! Thank-you, Mr. Mike!
Thanks, Ellen. I am glad to hear the you (and Benjamin) like to enlarge the images. I deliberately save them a little larger than necessary specifically to allow reader to do just that. I can’t believe that Benjamin is old enough to be heading to school. Does that make him five years old already?
Benjamin is 5 1/2 years old. It hardly seems possible to me! The first day of Kindergarten is tomorrow. I am looking forward to the coming weekend and our “Gem Sleepovers”. We will be sure to visit here! Thank-you, Mr. Mike!
Excellent!