That's great! I have one going on its 3rd year, and it's wonderful! Love the 'sputnik' blooms :)

Great! The bees and butterflies will thank you!

Sherry

Yay! It's kind of nerve wracking sometimes to see if plants made it through their first winter.

Correction, this will be the 4th year for mine. And I forgot to add: I was disappointed the first year - the sputniks were smaller than I expected. The second year they were better, and last year - awesome! That's when I took the photo above. They also bloomed twice. A good bloom in May or June, forgot which, and then a second, lighter bloom in late August/early September. I have "Sugar Shack", which prefers wetter areas - I planted it in a bed that is in my neighbor's water runoff line of fire :)

How often did you water your buttonbush, Sherry? I know they are water loving, but I noticed they don't like the rain when it rains for days.

How are your buttonbushes? Got the first flower!

I don't water mine. They do fine. But they are put to shame by the ones that got planted in wet areas by people who I gave buttonbushes. Visited one last week. Gave them their first maybe 5 years ago. Just a little 8" stem. Now it is bigger than my oldest one and has much bigger leaves. I've given the family a total of three and they love them. Look great and use the water that used to make their yard mushy.

Has anyone planted one of the smaller variety?

I'm really hoping that it grows a little more than last year. It put out a few leaves and barely grew at all lol. I'm assuming first year shrubs aren't that old. I'm not knowledgeable on that part. How old are nursery shrubs usually at the end of the season in the fall? I hope I'm not doing anything wrong. Probably over-thinking it like usual. I'm praying for a whole lotta creeping and leaping if there is such a thing lol.

My bush has a few balls on it. It definitely grew. I'll take a pic once it stops raining!