lois,
How clever. It's adorable.
The oblelisks are wonderful on the end, sort of adds archtectural interest.

Thanks butterfly4u!

Speaking of butterflies, I am trying to plant flowers to attract them and bumblebees... And hummingbirds. A garden without them is a garden still asleep. :-)

Lois,
I hear ya! The best plant I have found for all of the above is a milkweed plant.
This spring they had tropical milkweed (suppose to be hardy, we will see) at the nursery and picked up a couple.
They are a beautiful red and yellow.
THey get real tall, but boy the butterflies love them.
I know the orange milkweed comes back every year.
Anywho, you don't have to water them all that much, and very little care, they haven't stopped bloomin since I planted them.
I haven't seen them in the big box stores, but they have them in privately owned nurseries in case you are interested.

Hypericum densiflorum, bushy St. John's wort, is very popular with bees. Hummingbirds also love the native honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens. Mine blooms from Jan/Feb to frost (sometimes more than others as it takes a moment to catch its breath).

I would love to plant some of the red honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens.. I have my eye on a Major Wheeler as soon as I can figure out where to put it. Part of my problem is landscaping logistics... I keep wanting to plant all the hummingbird flowers around the patio so I can see the hummers from inside the house, but then the husband wont be able to get the lawnmower through...

butterfly4u, do you remember what nursery you got the tropical milkweed from?

Lois,
The nursery that is down the street from me in Aiken, it's called Cold Creek Nursery.
You must have a privatly owned nursery near you, just pay them a visit, sometimes they will order one for you if you want. That is what is nice going to a privately owned place vs. a big box place.
The orange is very common, but the red and yellow, now that is a real show stopper, and hummers are really attracted to it.
Mine was seeding and I let the seeds scatter, I am sorry, I whould have collected some and I could send you some seed.
I sure hope it comes back next year, I'm going to muclh it real good, you never know.
But if it doesn't, you know I'll be buying more next spring.
And collecting the seeds this time....darn.