Tag Archive: butterfly bush


So we have been talking about beautiful Butterfly bushes recently and how they usher in so many little creatures. Just recently we were trimming some of the bushes and trees in the yard and had considered trimming back the butterfly bush.  As we always do, we check to make sure there are no inhabitants, wildlife or otherwise that we would disrupt or force out.  We  had been admiring and enjoying the beautiful flowers up close, when we realized there was something else that had made a home in the tree outside of hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.

It was the cutest little nest tightly tucked up and away out of sight. Since we know not to touch the nest or get too close to it for fear of the mother rejecting her young, we went up on a ladder on the far side of the house giving us a clear view with the ability to zoom in with the camera to see if the nest was vacant or had any activity.
To our surprise and wonder we found such an incredible sight of nature and life first hand.

There was life with two darling little blue eggs in this perfect little nest.
The nest is in such a tall butterfly bush that was the perfect planned place for them.

With the nest in mind the plans to cut the bush were ceased.
That evening we had a terrible storm with very cold temperatures, pounding rain, thunder, lightening and even hail.
We were worried about the garden, and then it dawned on us, and we began to worry about the nest.
The next day it cleared up to a nice sunny day and we couldn’t stop thinking about the sweet little bird nest
and whether it had made it through the wicked storm.
So back up on the ladder again for an inspection from the distance using the zoom feature on the camera.

…..We couldn’t believe our eyes……

Not only was the nest still perfectly intact, it had a leaf canopy covering it so perfectly keeping the rain out.
The mother bird sure did a great job planning and keeping her babies safe.  The canopy appeared to be just like an umbrella but perhaps a bird nest umbrella perfectly placed with the just right size leaf to cover the nest.
There was another amazing thing.
The nest had changed since the first view only 24 hours earlier.

There were now three eggs and not two.
We look forward to documenting any changes in the nest and certainly will let you know if we
see any heads bobbing or chirping coming from the tree.  It really was such an amazing sight to witness.

This sight seemed so perfectly fitting with Mothers’ Day around the corner.  It showed the gallant effort and LOVE a Mother makes and the great lengths of protection she provides to her young as they grow.
Mothers’ are an AMAZING gift and even these little birdies have a Mother to be grateful and thankful for.
Mothers’ are  a GREAT BLESSING!

Happy Mother’s Day to All of you Incredible Mothers out There!
Enjoy your Day and Make it GREAT.

The Butterfly Bush

 These bushy trees are absolutely stunning.  Not only are they tall, beautiful and scented, they also attract beautiful butterflies.  These bushes add a wonderful tall and colorful character to any yard or garden and the flowers are just gorgeous.

If you are looking for a beautiful bush that you can add to your property then you may want to pick up a butterfly bush also known as the Buddleia, or Buddleja.  The Buddleia Davidii is the most common species and can be found at most offered nurseries and garden stores. The butterfly bush grows tall, and upright, with branch tips filled with beautiful clusters of tiny flowers. Hummingbirds, butterflies, bees and birds just love these bushes.

These bushes have been very  hardy plant, surviving the cold and the heat. They have lived through some very cold  winters where the temperature fell to 20 degrees.  During our summer it is very warm and they tend to be fine in the heat as well.

Our bush is dark purple, but they also come in pink or white.  Ours is super fast growing and is difficult to call a bush as ours is as tall as our home, and goes great planted next to the house.  These also work well along fences to create privacy, or in the garden.  If you are short on space or do not have a yard you can grow these in a pot for patios and decks.  We have a Black Night Buddleia which is the fastest growing of all the types and can grow as tall as 15 feet.  If you are looking for a smaller variations the Royal Red, is great and grows to about 6 feet at maturity.


The summers have been extremely hot and the bushes do just great in full sun and are a super hardy bush that requires very little. We trim back all the dead flowers cutting them just before the flowering part, however, you can also cut them down to the main stem and they keep growing back.  Cutting them back seems to help them multiply quite rapidly for a larger producing bush.  You can cut them down to as little as a few inches above ground on the off season and they will grow big and bushy during the warm months depending on how large you want it to grow.

If you have thought about putting in a tall flowering bush that attracts beautiful creatures like butterflies, and hummingbirds then this one is for you.  This bush seems to get more and more beautiful with every passing day.

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