What a gorgeous butterfly (and picture)! I have never seen one here, so I will enjoy them through you :)

Wow. I wouldn't know xx Lady if they bit me on the nose, but I am enchanted with how those wings look like stained glass. What a beautiful butterfly and beautiful photo!

Oh yes, the spanish moss is definitely brushing your face as you walk through. It too has a job to do here, besides looking old time southern. It makes the breeze visible. It speaks of low country Georgia and South Carolina, the oak savannas of Louisiana and Alabama, of the cracker country of Florida, the plantations of Mississippi and Alabama. It is quite "southern" and it is somewhat spooky, and very exotic. I was thinking about something Ken said as I watered my driveway hosta, which get summer shade from palm trees and bamboo clumps. It is an anachronism to combine them with....hosta? Well, I like surprises, and "incongrous juxtaposition." You don't have to grow spanish moss to create a mood. Follow your bliss, as Joseph Campbell said. I think Jonny is doing it with his ravine and the tall pines, the bench to add some human element to it, to imagine sitting there even when you are far away. When you create a heart garden, you carry it with you everywhere you go. It becomes your touchstone. I am not designing a garden, you know. I am doing as sculptors describe with stone--removing everything that is NOT garden, and letting the place become its true self. My DH asks me almost every day, "Do you have a plan?" No, I do not. I begin by listening to what the garden wants, and fiddle around until it purrs like a satisfied cat.I am its pawn. It is my muse. I note that some of the comments are from our gentlemen members, which I find rewarding and complimentary. I think gardening is an opportunity for all adults to express a gentler side of themselves, or appreciate some expression that is not dictated by machismo or practicality or rules. Men do not in the everyday world get much chance to express their inner child (except with cars and bbq grills and sports perhaps) until they take up gardening. I think Ken addressed that in his post about the garden being an excuse for playing in the yard. Under the sprinkler on a hot day, the water cools you, makes a mudpie on your shoes, you feel it no big chore to hump those bags of mulch and wheelbarrows loaded with pavers for a new path to a bench in a secluded alcove in the shade of a favorite tree. Here is the latest work with the pirogue as a planting container. It took 5 bags of mini bark pine nuggets and 2 bags of MiracleGro 64qt size. That is white annual vinca which sometimes lasts a couple of years. The 3 Princess Anastasia hosta have 2 Purple Lady Fingers between. The clay pots come from Arizona Pottery, very solid and quite heavy empty. The cross is an original welded work of art I acquired in about 1987 when I bought Moccasin Landing. It is called "Queen of Heaven" . This display setup for my DH to honor his oldest sibling who will be 94 in October. Anastasia is a nun of the Sisters of Charity of Halifax NS now retired to Wellesley. Some of you Canadians may have been her students for umpteen years, and although she is less than 5 foot tall, she coached a winning soccer team at her school. I will paint this pirogue probably a soft lime green (Irish) or a vibrant hue of lavender. It will look great with the hosta. The rest of the area is a work in progress, but this is the anchoring feature. You only see it when you arrive at the end of the long stretch of Moon Walk, and turn 90 degrees. The long section of Moon Walk Turn, and there it is

Definatly not a king bird. They eat bugs not seeds I believe. Not a worbler or a towhee either. The black & white guys are back. I've tried to get pics but they are blury and too far away. They are spooky and take off when ever I try to approach. They are the size of a cardinal. They don't get along w/ the cardnials either. The cardnials chase them away from the feeder. I find this strange as they feed peafully w/ the finchs etc. The beak is light tan or yellow & very sturdy, as if it were made to crack nuts open. The towhee's beak is black. I'm stumped. Haven't seen a pic of a bird that looks anything like it yet. There are two of them so its not some strange color mutation. Any ideas?