A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 What's Blooming Today Pt II

That was me, Jen, that asked - Thank you for posting it! That's big compared to the image in my head! LOL! Thanks so much - it helps me put it in perspective (ie. now I can figure out where to put one)!

Mary-- since your thinking about planting a butterfly bush-- you can cut them back hard every year to keep it the size you want it and it will still bloom. It only blooms on the new growth each year...
Our wonderful gardening friends here taught me that!!!
Would you like to see a picture of mine??

Ohhhhh that's good to know! I'd love to see it Tricia! Please post! Thanks!

this is the front of it...


this is the back...

Its actually about 8 feet tall right now. I cut it back in early March to about four feet. It looked like a bunch of sticks coming up from the ground!!!

These pictures are so pretty. The cannas are gorgeous and those butterfly bushes - something to write home about. Do you guys have zillions of butterflies?

pcgrav, I still have pansys too. I think it might be because of all the rain we had.

WOW Tricia absolutely gorgeous! Hmm how good does it smell, say, in comparison to a lilac? LOL! I'm trying to find something that's close to as fragrant as the lilac for summer. I can't believe you cut it back to 4' in March and it's so beautiful now. Wow...really awesome. I think I need 10 of them. LOL!

Believe it or not --I've never smelled a lilac!!! But when I stand as far away as say the back of that blue truck in the background-- I can smell it wonderfully!!! Its a very fragrant bush... And they come in several colors... I have three more that I planted this year that are supposed to be tri-colored... Lavendar,Pink,White.

OOOps!!-- I just looked back at those pics and realized you can't see the truck!!
But it is about 10 feet from the bush I guess...

Actually I have a ton of bumble bees!!! They outnumber my butterflies... :p :p

But I've seen some absolutely gorgeous butterflies on the bush...

Trica,
That is an awesome color!!!
Is it really a blue*ish* color
like it looks???
That's pretty!!!

Have your Tri~colored one's bloomed yet?

Weezie, I have no clue how old it is. It was here when we bought the house. I get alot of butterflies. The Monarch that I took the picture of is the first of its kind that I've seen on the bush and this is the 3rd summer we're here.

The smell of the bush is very similiar to a lilac bushy. Its VERY fragrant and the blooms last longer than a lilac bush. During the winter, the bush look like a bunch of sticks in the ground, just like Tricia said.

I have no clue how tall mine is. I don't know if you can see the light in the picture that I took. The bush is growing right next to a pole with a lamp on it. That is probably 8-10 feet tall. I trim mine back harshly every other year so that the branches don't snap off.

I'm in zone...ummm...6 I believe...can't really remember at this point (I'm REALLY tired right now!)