A fellow gardener took me to see this crape myrtle tree at the St. Lukes Church in the West Village. It survives the winters here because it's protected on all four sides by the buildings of the church. The bark is gorgeous which makes it a perfect tree for winter interest in a small garden. It flowers in mid-summer and the blooms on this one are large and pink. This crape myrtle is probably a "Peco" or "Hopi". This summer I planted in a garden a young one called, "Acoma", which blooms white.





Yesterday I was walking in Hell's Kitchen when a butterfly flew down in front of me as if he wanted to be noticed. No one else seemed to see it. While walking down the street, New Yorkers tend to avoid each other's gaze, immersed in another world. I know I do sometimes. But not yesterday. As I walked, the butterfly flew above my head leading me down the block.

It had the rust colored wings of a Monarch but it was too frenetic and too far away for me to read it's markings. What I do know is that it was beautiful and for a moment I saw only the butterfly and the canopy of the trees. It was as if I wasn't in the city at all but the wonderful thing was-- is that I was in the city.

Then, as if it was bored with me, it fluttered quickly into the trees and disappeared. My only regret was that I didn't have my camera.