Nothing gets my tail wagging quite as much as the gentle flutter of colorful butterfly wings; and fortunately this time of year, Balboa Park offers a primo location for butterfly watching in the sunken Zoro Garden.

Sandwiched between the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center and the Casa de Balboa, this picturesque stone grotto earned its initial claim to fame as the site of a nudist colony during the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition. At the time, some two-legged folk were fascinated by the prospect of living au natural like their four-legged counterparts, until they realized that their lack of fur made it too cold for them to keep it up year round.

The queen of the nudist colony’s pageant was named Zorine, hence the name Zoro with one r rather than two. About sixty years later, the garden was transformed to foster a colony of butterflies instead by incorporating plants and trees that provide the necessary food and shelter for all stages of a butterfly’s lifecycle. Among these botanical resources are sunflowers, passion vines, monkey flowers, as well as ficus and Moreton Bay and Indian Laurel Fig trees.

Now some of the most beautiful butterfly breeds, like monarchs, sulfars, skippers, and swallowtails, have a safe, sunny, wind-protected environment to flourish—and I have an ideal spot to enjoy the benefits of living au natural.