I have found nothing like the butterfly bush to attract butterflies in the garden. Our bushes seem to bloom later in the summer, around August, here in Ohio. Pink, white, purple, yellow - there are numerous colors.

A lot of monarch butterflies love it. In fact, I had one right next to my pond and had to move it as the monarchs would land and the frogs would eat them. Kind of defeats the purpose.

My grandson actually caught a monarch butterfly when he was 2 years old. He picked it right off the bush.

This is a very attractive addition to your backyard landscape and I highly recommend it.

This is important — All species of yew contain highly poisonous alkaloids known as taxanes, with some variation in the exact formula of the alkaloid between the species.

All parts of the tree except the arils contain the alkaloid.

The arils are edible and sweet, but the seed is dangerously poisonous; unlike birds, the human stomach can break down the seed coat and release the taxanes into the body. This can have fatal results if yew ‘berries’ are eaten without removing the seeds first.

Make certain your kids know this!

Similar in overall appearance to the yew, plum yew’s foliage is a little coarser in texture and more olive green in color. There are low growing selections (‘Prostrata’) and a very beautiful, large, wide, spreading shrub (‘Duke Gardens’).

Unlike yew, plum yews are much more tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions and are equally adapted to dense shade plantings. This makes them ideal in poor soil areas of your backyard landscape where you have trouble growing plants.

These are easy to grow and can cover large areas or, if you prefer, you can keep them trimmed.

Here are a few simple guidelines for selecting healthy conifers that will please you for many years to come:

Check the root system. Most conifers are sold either balled and in burlap, as well as in containers. Since they are shallow-rooted plants, check to be sure that the plants have adequate, healthy roots. The root tips should be creamy white or reddish in color - not black. Check to see if the plant is loose and wobbly - push gently on the plant and watch the base of the stem. If the pot or the burlap looks old and worn, the plant may have been sitting in the sales yard for several seasons, and the root system might not be healthy.

Bigger is not necessarily better. Many conifers acclimate better to a new planting site if they are young and vigorous. If faced with the choice of planting a hedge with 5-6 ft tall plants or 3-4 ft tall plants — the 3-4 ft plants is the better choice. After two or three years, the shorter plants will very often surpass the 5-6 ft tall plants in growth because the larger specimens will take longer to adjust to the site.