One long raised border along a broad, paved walkway leading to a pier on the waterfront in Charleston was really lovely. A low, arched, black cast-iron barrier along the front, behind which was a long sweep of white sweet aylssum interspersed with yellow and violet violas. Behind them were dark green swiss chard and at irregular intervals that purple phlox family plant I haven't identified. Behind the swiss chard, annual sweetpeas were annual sweetpea vines - about a foot in length, not blooming yet and just reaching for the 3' high iron fence that backed the border. Two large cats, one black with shining pale green eyes, and a gray tabby with the same eyes, weaved in and out of the back fence, occasionally moving to the front of the border to crouch and watch us touristas before slipping back into the shadows. The adjacent property was a stand of large live-oaks.

The live oaks throughout the region are an amazing feature of the landscape - the spanish moss hanging from them adding drama but not so thick as to steal the show.