lawmummy

Oh yeah, I’m back.

Well, I wasn’t really gone. But my Green Thumb Sunday love was. One of the reasons that I was so crazy nuts about getting the migration over to wordpress.org to work is that wordpress.com would not allow script. And without script, you can’t do a proper blogroll (you can individually add links, but that’s not the same). And without a proper blogroll, I couldn’t participate in one of my most favorite blogging things… Green Thumb Sunday!

But all is now right with the world. The blog is working (I know there are some migration glitches - I’m doing my best) and I’m back on track for Green Thumb Sunday. Enjoy - and don’t forget to stop in and say hello to my fellow Green Thumb-ers. You can find the list over in the sidebar - it’s now expandable (say it with me now, “Oooh! Ahhh!”).

It’s a butterfly bush. I felt like sharing this one (one of three in my yard) because this has really become the season for butterflies around the garden. Butterflies are everywhere in our yard right now (including on Katie’s head today, much to Chris’ amusement) - and I like to think it has something to do with our assortment of butterfly-friendly plants.

Butterfly bush is the common name for plants in the Buddleia genus. There are over 100 species, believe it or not.

Butterfly bushes do what it says on the tin: they attract butterflies with their bright colors and extended growing season. Here in Philadelphia, the first blooms start in early summer/late spring and keep on going throughout early fall.

The bushes in our yard are huge - the one near our patio is well over 7′ tall. They also grow quite wide. I expect that you can probably “train” them in some regard to grow a certain way but I like the chaotic nature of the butterfly bush with sprouts all over the place. It is, I think, exactly as nature intended.

If you don’t have one, and you’re wondering, they’re easy to grow and nearly impossible to kill. I divided one after it broke while being transported and though it looked dead all fall, the broken bit has emerged this fall as a smaller version of its former self.

Beautiful, easy to grow - practically maintenance free (they need pruning before the new season) - butterfly bushes are definitely one of my favorites!

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

September 2nd, 2007 | Category: Home and Garden, Memes and Lists | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL