Black Butterflies, Take 2,

The lantana and asters really know how to attract the butterflies. By July our sidewalk will be so thick with butterflies that traffic literally stops to watch them. Actually, they're usually watching me taking photos of them. "What are you taking pictures of?" Some stop their car and walk up to watch and I enjoy telling them about the plants and helping them identify each colorful flutterby. Well, those I can ID myself anyway. The black ones are a challenge, as I've already stated. Here are a few photos to show you what I mean. Feel free to ID them for me - we'll compare notes and see how off I am in my research.

I've been catching up on John's blog at Born Again Birdwatcher today. His series of posts about Japanese Gardens is food for thought, and his photos are exquisite. Reading these posts and immersing myself into each photograph I could feel my shoulders relax and I felt calmed. Nature in all her forms is critical to our well being. Butterflies have their scientific purpose of pollination, but their unscientific purpose is simply to bring JOY to the world. Gardens invite us to stop and feel, really feel, the world. And no garden would be complete without butterflies.