The Butterfly Bush

“Don't be afraid. Change is such a beautiful thing," said the Butterfly.

~ Sabrina Newby

We have a shrub* in our garden - our ignored and overgrown garden - that blooms a smelly white flower. The fragrance of these blooms, fills the air with a sweet overwhelming scent. The shrub too wants to take over all the space in the garden - sending out long  gangly, brittle branches that shade-out smaller plants below. 

There has been a 20 year battle between us. I break off the branches, attempting to train the wayward plant and it sends out more - almost sneakily below and above the other plants. It refuses to cooperate and I refuse to give up.

But then it blooms. And when it blooms at just the right time, the butterflies come.**

Right now the bush (we call it a snowball bush, but aren't sure if that is the right name) is full of blooms and butterflies. It's also full of bees, flies and other pollinators. It happened over the weekend. I saw a few when I came home to check on kitties.***  Then it exploded.

Cold weather is threatened by Wednesday. I plan to visit and revisit the garden and see what other creatures visit before time is up. And this post will remind me to be gentle when I remove those twigs.

How many butterflies do you see?

They didn't all stay with the snowball bush.

Every now and then a decent shot

A Painted Lady I am told.

It's a webworm moth. I wish it wasn't. I think it is lovely, but I'm not fond of webworms.

This photo was marked for reporting as there is another "bug" just to the left.

There are many flies and bees on the blooms, but they often move to fast for even a bad photo.

Queens

I love the way the light and shadows impact the view.

Ailanthus Webworm moth

How can you tell a Queen from a Monarch? One way is that the white spots on a Monarch are completely surrounded by black. Not so on a Queen.

American Snout

Fiery Skipper

Ladybug, ladybug...

...fly away home! [Seven-spotted Ladybird]

Another type of webworm moth, but there is dissent in the database.

Locust Borer Beetle - it's probably a menace, but it is lovely.

The Ladybug you really don't want.

Another Queen (they almost always seem to pose)

Queen and Monarch

Another webworm moth

American Snouts

Another Monarch

Yellow-collared Scape Moth

You are new here - a Bordered Patch

NOTES:

*We got this shrub about 20 years ago from the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, Texas.

**My favorite story about this bush and the butterflies: Years ago, right after the bush was well-established and blooming like crazy I was leaving for work when I saw a neighborhood child standing at the edge of the road next to the flowerbed with a huge pickle jar full of butterflies. As I walked over to her she apologized and said that she was planning to take the butterflies to school, but that she would "let my butterflies" go. I told her they weren't my butterflies and that she could take them to school, but she should release them after she showed her class. We talked about how important the butterflies were to all of us. Then I told her to try and leave the butterflies in the future, but that she could pick my flowers because I planted them so that we could all pick them.

***Neither of the cats responds well to boarding so we left them at home and I commuted once a day to feed and check on them.