A bright spot

The "flower farmers" who sell their pretty crops 
at my local greenmarket weren't there this
weekend. For a couple of weeks lately, they only had
cabbage roses and great big fragrant bunches of eucalyptus.
And this is Gomphrena globosa, aka globe amaranth, 
one of the last flowers they brought before
they disappeared for the season.
(I'll miss them until they return next spring—most
likely with tulips and daffodils for starters.)

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday,
 Our World Tuesday, and
Nature Footstep: NF Blo-Ma.]

a little red beetle

Unlike yesterday's antsy (so to speak) insect,
this little beetle was willing to pose
for me, without budging, for a looong time.

[It's Ruby Tuesday; to see more, go here.
Am also linking back to Macro Monday
and to Nature Footstep/Blo-Ma.
And it's the first of the month, so I've posted to my Paris blog.]

Cactus Flower

I found this minuscule cactus blossom in the
Desert Pavilion, one of several year-round
habitats at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

[It's Ruby Tuesday; to see more, go here. 
For more macros, visit the NF/Blo-Ma meme.]

local weather conditions

We've been having some bitter cold, snowy
weather around here lately—but even so, I still
managed to find a little bit of green peeking through.

[To see more flower macros, vist NF Blo-Ma, here.]