I can’t remember if I ever told you how I first learned about butterfly bushes. It was back in about 2006… I was working as a cub reporter for a community newspaper, in a little southern Ontario town called Port Colborne. It was a quiet day at the paper office, and I’d finished all my writing. I decided to go for a walk with my camera and see if I could find anything to take pictures of for filler pieces.

I’d walked for a about an hour and was on my way back to the office when I came across this large, flowering shrub on someone’s front lawn. And it was absolutely covered in monarchs! There had to be at least 30. I was amazed. I snapped dozens of pictures (sadly, I don’t have any of them any more).

When I came back to the office, I was showing everyone (Everyone being the receptionist, the ad salesperson and my editor) and noted that I’d have to find out what kind of bush it was. That’s when the receptionist said “Oh that’s a butterfly bush”.

I thought she was kidding at first, but… she wasn’t. I vowed that I would plant one one day! And I did, though it wasn’t until about eight years later when we moved to the townhouse in Stoney Creek. And the butterflies came, though I’ve never seen as many as on that bush in Port Colborne.

And of course, when we moved here, I got more. Five in total so far!

They are clockwise from top left: Buzz Lavender, Black Knight, Royal Red, White Profusion and Queen of Hearts.

White Profusion is the largest by far. It’s just outside the catio, and is taller than the fence, which is something like seven-and-a-half feet tall. It’s probably five-six feet wide, though I’ve never actually measured it. And boy does it bring in the butterflies.

This beauty is a Painted Lady. It’s a mid-sized butterfly, and this is the first year I’ve seen them here.

This one is also new. It’s a Hackberry Emperor. It’s a fair bit smaller – more on par with a Cabbage White.

It reminds me a little of the one on my recent cross stitch project.

It’s been a great year for new butterflies. This one is a Great Spangled Fritillary

We’ve had the smaller Fritillaries here, but never one this big – almost the size of a Monarch.

The Red Admirals have been incredibly abundant this year.

I always thought they were an early season butterfly. They were always one of the first butterflies to arrive, along with the Cabbage White. But I rarely saw them past June. But not this year. I went out the other day and there were no less than SEVEN on White Profusion. And that doesn’t include the other ones that were flitting about elsewhere in the yard. I’ve recently learned that there host plants are nettles, and there are certainly lots of them around here, so I’m guessing that’s why there are so many. I’m certainly glad for it. I’ve found that Admirals are among the “friendliest” butterfly, more likely to land on me than the other butterflies.

This little guy is an Eastern Comma.

If you look very closely, you’ll see a little white “C” on his side – that’s where he gets his name. The other side of his wings are orange, but sadly, I didn’t get that view.

Last year we had dozens of Skippers, but this year they are a far rarer sight.

The one on the left, I think is a Dusted Skipper, while the one on the right is a Silver Spotted Skippers are generally very small – the Silver Spotted is the largest I’ve seen, and it’s about half the size of a Cabbage White.

And even though I haven’t had them in the numbers I saw in Port Colborne, the Monarch make a respectable showing

It’s not unusual to see three or four in the yard at a time

The Red-Spotted Purples are another common site in this garden.

Oddly enough though, the Red-Spotted Purples tend to prefer the Black Knight bush.

Same with the Eastern Swallowtails.

So needless to say… if you want butterflies to come to you yard, I can’t recommend a butterfly bush enough.

Just maybe plant it away from the paws of any ferocious felines…

It might be hard to see, but he pulled a monarch right off that branch and ran away with it. I’ve since chopped all the branches growing through the fence to help curb the carnage. But he is a determined hunter…