Whatever entomologist affixed the common name of Painted Lady to this species of Brushfoot butterfly no doubt had a sense of humor... or spent too much time in, well, you can figure out where this thought might be going. But by any name, Vanessa cardui is a genuine stunner, and I'm certainly grateful that the lepidopterans have made a major effort this year to make the journey north from their southern wintering haunts. Painted Ladies, which partisan and field guide author and photographer Jeffrey Glassberg terms "the planet's most cosmopolitan butterfly" in A Swift Guide to Butterflies of North America from Princeton University Press, are wonderfully common in 2017, and this one gave me a fine look at its identification characteristics. Glassberg highlights the "four small eyespots" on the back side of the hind wing and the "black band usually thick and closed" on the forewing, when the wings are beautifully opened. In my daughter's garden this morning, no Painted Lady has ever put on a better show... well, one that I'd care to talk about.