Glory Amongst the Fencerows

The title of my last post was "Pictures Waiting to be Taken," and yesterday morning, while searching for Spider Lilies to photograph, I found lots of "pictures waiting to be taken" along the rural back roads of Hinds County, Mississippi.  Actually, some of them weren't on back roads ... they were on the South Frontage Road of I-20, near Edwards ... in plain sight of the hundreds of travelers who use the frontage road daily, on their way to and from work.  I'd be willing to bet that very few of those travelers have noticed God's glory amongst the fencerows, but I did ... and I'm so glad I stopped to get a closer look. The white wildflower vines trailed gracefully along the fence, and reminded me of little white morning glories.   As you can see in the first picture, there was a lot of tall grass between the road and fence, plus a shallow ditch, and I was sorry I didn't have my "grass-wading boots" with me. However, the next best thing to boots is a long lens, and whenever I'm on a photo shoot, I have one handy.  The following pictures were all taken with the long lens from a spot about three feet off the road. It was truly my lucky day as far as picture-making goes ... because I soon discovered that I wasn't the only one enjoying those glorious wildflowers along the fencerows.  There were several butterflies darting to and fro amongst the blooms, and I managed to capture a few pictures of them as they flitted from flower to flower, in their never-ending search for the bloom with the best nectar ...     This black swallowtail was a little more camera-shy than the yellow swallowtail ...    Isn't God's camouflage amazing!  You can barely see him nestled in the vines. I like the way his wings are positioned in the next picture ... And this is my favorite picture of him ... caught in mid-air!  As if the wildflowers and butterflies weren't enough, I found some lagniappe at my feet, literally ... Those are "Balloon Vines" ...  If you would like to know more about Balloon Vines, you can go back in time to a post I wrote a few years ago featuring Balloon Vines, by clicking the links below.  I found them to be very interesting plants, and the pods have unique little heart-shaped seeds inside them.  Balloon Vines Heart Seeds Just a few yards up the road from the butterflies another picture was beckoning to me, and there was no way I could pass by these beautiful yellow wildflowers ... I found a place to turn around and went back to get a closer look ...   I googled images of yellow wildflowers and was surprised to find these listed under "Poisonous Plants of the South." They are called Showy Crotalaria, and are extremely toxic to chickens, horses, cattle, and swine that might consume the green plant, hay contaminated with crotalaria, or dried seed in harvested grain.  Sheep, goats, mules, and dogs can also be affected to a lesser degree.  I'm not sure if it has adverse effects on humans, but I'm glad I didn't decide to dissect one to look at its seeds, as I sometimes do. Even though poisonous, the flowers were a beautiful sight scattered along the roadside.       Here are a few more "lagniappe" pictures I captured along my journey ... Champion Hill Road Hinds County, Mississippi This next "picture waiting to be taken" stopped me in my tracks ... or rather, on the railroad tracks. I didn't "hear a train a'comin,'" so I stopped on the tracks to capture this beautiful scene. This little guy was in a yard in Edwards, Mississippi ... and I couldn't resist stopping by for a visit. The soybean fields were decked out in their Fall colors, ready for harvest time ... which will be soon. I hope you enjoyed seeing God's glory in these "pictures waiting to be taken." I have one more fencerow I want to share, but since this post is rather lengthy, I'll leave it for next time.  I hope you will join me.

Fencerows and Wildflowers

This is a continuation of my recent photo shoot along some of the country roads near Vicksburg. My first story featured a visit with some delightful Jerusalem Donkeys that were grazing near the frontage road along I-20, between Vicksburg and Jackson. If you would like to read that post, you can click on the link.

After I left the donkeys, my attention was drawn to the colorful fencerows which were covered by tangled masses of Trumpet Vines and all kinds of wild berry vines. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them, if you would like to get a closer look ...

The colorful red and gold leaves reminded me that Fall is just around the corner.

I enjoy photographing trumpet vines, and always find something new and interesting about them.

I love the way the sun filtered through the petals of the large trumpet in the center of this picture ...

The sunlight was filtering through the leaves on this row of trees, too, and I did a double take as I passed by them.

There was no traffic coming, so I backed up and captured them quickly with my camera.

I pulled off the road to photograph the next fencerow. I'm not sure what the name of this plant is, but I think it's pretty.

I love the way the little tendrils curl around the stem ...

Just down the road a bit, I noticed this big guy enjoying a quiet moment in the midday shade.

I tried to get him to look at the camera, but he didn't even flinch, and rudely put me on ignore.

One of the things I love most about my photo shoots is that I almost always learn something new about the subjects I capture in my pictures, and my "fencerow" shoot was no exception.

This time I learned what these large green pods are ...

When I showed my pictures to my husband, he said he thought they were Maypops, so I checked Google images and, sure enough, I found pictures that confirmed he was right — they were, indeed, Maypop seed pods.

I was glad I had picked a couple and brought them home with me so I could see what was inside them.

And here is what I found when I cut them open:

Seeds inside the green pod ...

Seeds inside the dried pod ...

According to Wikipedia, Maypop (also known as Purple Passionflower, Wild Apricot Vine, and Wild Passion Vine) is a fast growing perennial vine with climbing or trailing stems. The Maypop has large, intricate flowers and is a common wildflower in the southern United States, found mostly in thickets, near riverbanks, and near unmowed pastures, roadsides, and railroads. It is the Tennessee State Wildflower.

The flowers are large and showy, and normally bloom in July. Here is a picture I found on the Internet of a Maypop bloom:

[Photographer: Norman G. Flaigg]

I wish I had known about Maypop vines in July — I would have loved capturing pictures of some of those gorgeous blooms.

I hope you enjoyed taking this little adventure with me. Perhaps you can get out this holiday weekend and explore the changing season for yourself. There is definitely a change in the air here in Mississippi ... and it's a good one!