Butterfly Bushes: In the spring of 2002, John and I experimented with butterfly bushes.  We planted three 'twigs' alongside the house on the west side.  This is the side of the house away from the street and facing open land.  The area gets a fair amount of sunlight and sits on a slope, so the obligatory soggy Central New York soil is well drained.  We really didn't expect these plantlings to hatch, but they did, and they did surprisingly well.  The one closest to the south side of the house (and highest part of the hill) grew high enough to allow us to see sprays of the flowers through the living room window.  The butterfly bushes brought with them a small troop of hummingbirds that now call our little 'farmstead' home.  Wonderful!  Although said to be perennial, we never thought they'd come back year after year.  This is what our butterfly bushes look like the summer of their second year.

The picture below shows the two smaller butterfly bushes (along with a nice shot of Jerry's barn across the street).

Butterflies are not the only creature our bushes have attracted.  We've also seen Hawk Moths and Hummingbirds.

Hawk Moth

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird