Indigo spires salvia and butterfly bush flowers

The indigo spires salvia plant has taken a while to produce its lovely deep blue blossoms.

And here are the blooms on one spire, ready for the bees and hummingbirds.

Meanwhile, its neighbor the butterfly bush Buddleia davidii is suddenly producing beautiful purple flower heads. These will provide nectar for butterflies and birds.

It's such a pleasant surprise to see the butterfly bush blooming because we have had some problems with a moth that lays eggs in leaf clusters at the tips of the plant's branches.

This has prevented the flower heads from properly developing.

I didn't expect the bush to bloom until next year.

One word of caution regarding the butterfly bushes - they are an invasive species.

They can spread and crowd out beneficial native plants growing around them.

I keep this bush growing in a large pot in the backyard.

It can still provide nectar for butterflies and birds, yet not be a menace to the native plants growing next to it.

Last year I spotted a California Buckeye butterfly on a flower head of this bush.

I hope to see more native butterflies on the bush this season and in the future.