Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) Butterfly and Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus)

The Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae, widespread over much of the Palaearctic. Their uppersides and undersides have different patterns: male uppersides are irridescent blue, while females are rather brownish. Undersides are greyish colour in the males and more brownish in the females.

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) male. (by-nc-nd)

Spiders, Cobwebs and Wasp Nest

Even wandering around an ordinary garden you can bump into a variety of different cobwebs,

Communal spider web
(© 2012 LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Summer colours, pink and white. Flowering Trees — Oleanders.

I've always had a particular fondness for oleanders, every time I see them I know the sea is somewhere close and it comforts me. In summer their blossom fills the air with sweet fragrance; to my eyes, there's no true garden without oleanders.

Nerium oleander is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, toxic in all its parts. It is so widely cultivated that no precise region of origin (probably southwest Asia), has been identified. Oleander is one of the most poisonous of commonly grown garden plants, and can be very toxic if ingested in sufficient quantity. Clearly, this beauty can stand up for itself!

Oleander flowers. (© 2012 LightColourShade. All rights reserved)