A Butterfly Tree.

When we moved to our house, about 6 months ago, there were lots of trees, plants, and flowers waiting for our care. Unfortunately for them, neither Sean nor I are really “yard” people. We just can’t seem to find the time or energy to deal with excessive yard work, beyond the typical time spent mowing, weed eating, or pot planting a geranium or two. It has, however, been really interesting watching what is seemingly nothing grow into something during these past few months. I should take a moment to tell you that the woman we are currently renting from is clearly amazing when it comes to yard maintenance. (She also has a degree in horticulture, from what we understand, so I’m cutting myself some slack.) There are rose bushes, both in the backyard and front, day lilies, daffodils, mint and rosemary, along with at least 15 additional types of flowers, bushes, and trees of which I don't have the knowledge to name. Needless to say, we’ve been overwhelmed, but we’re giving it our best shot!

There is one tree/bush (not even sure which, ha!) in our backyard that has recently brought some beautiful visitors our way...As spring approached, we watched as its very bare, lonely branches grew leaves. With the arrival of summer came the tiny purple flowers whose blooms were an open invitation to these:

Our backyard has become home to a group of fluttering butterflies! As you can imagine, Gracie is just in love with the idea that we can step out our back door, walk up to this tree, and stand face to face with as many as 10-15 different butterflies at any given time. They aren’t bothered with us at all and we could easily touch them if we wanted. We stand and watch them, getting as close as possible, then watch as they soar up over our heads, then back down to the flowers again. It’s now my favorite plant of all, and since I don't have a clue what it's called, it's simply become our Butterfly Tree.