Multi-colored, White, Purple, front to back, impressing me.
In the last week, my three sturdy backyard garden butterfly bushes have changed personality a bit.
The white, in fact, became the loudest of the bunch, with blooms so big, so long, so wide, they threatened to drown out their neighbors. But the pink indeed morphed chameleon-like into the multi-colored beauty of seasons past, and the purple, well, the purple refuses to let the two neighbors to the right get nearly as tall.
I caught this photo above, which I believe captures the depth of their relationship in the moment.
And then I caught a glimpse of one line purple blossom peeking at me above the fence, from Good Neighbor Tim’s yard.
The butterfly bush that grew from the seed that floated over the fence.
I held my iPad Air aloft and pointed it downward to see what it could find of the pretty butterfly bush that has come to life for Tim and his wonderful wife Lorraine because a seed decided to waft in the wind the dozen feet or so from our butterfly garden in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood.
Tim had invited my dear wife Karen and I over a few days prior to witness nature’s majesty from their side, eye level.
I like the beauty from my side, above, too. They told me it was not an invasion of privacy …after I informed them I had taken the picture.
What personalities do you see developing in the gardens around your place this summer? Have you had seeds obviously take root in neighbor’s gardens, and if so, what plants or flowers? Would you get mad at me for sticking my lens over your fence and shooting down at your space, and what words would you use when you came over to my side to tell me if you were?
Mark Bialczak 
The bushes are beautiful. Are you seeing many butterflies?
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Wow, Mr. Green Thumb, they look wonderful. Great work on your garden.
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Thanks, Dora, but more to Karen’s credit than mine. It’s a team project, but she takes the lead role!
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I would feel honored if you stuck your camera over my fence, Mark! Especially when you have such nice things to say about what you photograph. I think the only way I wouldn’t like it is if I was the neighbor with the too-tall pines and you talked about me. But then again, that would be my own fault for being so inconsiderate. 🙂 I would love to be your neighbor!
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We would be good neighbors, Rachel, of that I am sure! 🙂
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When you get a house on your street up for sale, give me a call. 🙂
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I like that the seed went rogue! What a little brave seed doing its own thing over the fence! It didn’t want to follow the crowd or be just one of the guys. It wanted its own identity and space. 🙂
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I know, the little rogue that could, Maria. What also fascinates me is that not one seed has spread from those butterfly bushes in our own butterfly garden. That makes the story even more interesting, I think.
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Beautiful! Summer sursprises, Chum.
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I love the way in such a short time, your butterfly bushes are really growing tall! The white one is ‘bushier’ but the purple ones are still my faves, Mark! This is so true with nature spreading over into other’s yards. I think we had to address “bad” neighbor’s dandelions issue, more than beauty coming into our yard, as a past homeowner! I would definitely think it was a compliment to take photographs of my past gardens, Mark! I also know that my Mom’s lilies of the valley, crept under a fence into my Bay Village, Ohio neighbor’s yard, they enjoyed the fruits of my Mom’s labors, told her so! Smiles!
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That’s cool that your mom’s lillies of the valley spread to the neighbor’s yard, Robin! Here’s a good Lily of the Valley story for you. This June Karen carefully took one out of the ground when we left the rented cottage in Cape Cod — there were a lot and they wouldn’t miss it — and planted it here in Syracuse in an out of the way spot between the fence and our porch in the corner. And it grew! She was so happy. And then I forgot and ran it over with the lawn mower! I just mentioned it again now and she said once more that maybe it will come back next year. Boy, I hope so!
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They look absolutely beautiful, Mark. Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂
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Just like a container garden. Or nothing like a container garden, my Arizona friend. Thank you for liking my Syracuse successes.
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*way* better than a container garden, but hey, you work with what you’ve got. 🙂
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I would not get angry at all Mark. Picture away! I have been doing more picture taking at parks and during hikes. Ohio has some fabulous hiking areas. I am always amazed by the rocks and trees. I love beautiful flowers and my neighbors do a fabulous job of coloring up the world around us. They wouldn’t get mad either if I took pictures. 🙂
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I always take pictures and I never ask. I just take out my phone and click click click. I mean, it’s our world, right? Oh, yeah, it’s our neighbor’s yard. Forgot.
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But aren’t our visions, ours? 🙂
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Yes, that is so, Colleen.
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I can’t imagine anyone getting upset with you Mark! Saying ‘good neighbor Tim’ reminds me of that show, what was it called? You know with Tim the tool man Taylor?? What was his neighbour’s name?
Diana xo
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The neighbor’s name was … I’ll come up with it and get back to you, Diana. The guy only had a top part of a face, after all!
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Wilson!
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Yes, just like Tom Hanks’ volleyball! Good memory, Diana.
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You could take pictures of my squirrels from over the fence all you want…. or even get some great close-up shots of my weeds if your heart desired…
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I would have gotten the vandalized air conditioner, or if the timing was right, the criminal!
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That’s true!
“Excuse me…. sir! You, with the hacksaw! Could you turn around just a bit so I can get your face in the light for this picture? Thanks!”
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You. Give me your iPad! Damn. Foiled with you, ESN. Now he’s got the photo of my butterfly bushes, too.
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hey, Mark and beloved spouse, whose name I forgot. Beautiful flowers. Now they are on my list!
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My dear wife Karen and I thank you, Martha, and hope that you enjoy your butterfly bushes when you get them in your garden.
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We call them “pass-along” plants. Although yours aren’t waiting for you to share them, they’re doing it on their own.
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I love that phrase, Barbara. Pass-along plants they shall be forever more for Good Neighbor Tim and I.
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Your neighbor is Tim? Is that “Tim, the Tool Man Taylor”? Ha! That is so cool Mark that your garden is spreading into the neighbor’s garden. You’re sharing butterflies, why not bushes as well? As far as picture taking is concerned, it would depend on the neighbor.Most of the neighbors I’ve had would have been fine with it. One particular neighbor would have asked me to come over and take more. He was proud of his yard. We always kept a pretty simple yard – mostly taken up with a trampoline for the kids, and not much gardening. Anyone was free to take a picture. Also, there was a cycling path that ran behind our property and a short chain link fence with a gate that bordered the back of the yard. So anyone on the bike path had a clear view of our, and the neighbor’s yard.
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Yes, Paul, and Tim is very Fix-It, and owns lots of tools, too, although his last name, alas, is not Taylor. Best part, though, is that I do look like Al Borland.
I don’t think I would have much liked the cycling path with a full view of our yard. In the warm months Karen and I sit back in our chairs with Eliie B romping and share war tales to unwind when we get home after work, best done unseen!
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Great capture in the moment, Mark. I think you have good boundaries, so you would always be welcomed to visit, in my space.
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I do know and respect boundaries. Give and take is a good rule, always, Ann.
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wow, and it’s so funny, just like having multiple children, they all develop into their own time, and in their own way, and sometimes it’s the quiet one, hanging in the background, who takes the lead when you least expect it. sure, i’d be happy to let my neighbor shoot a pic of my gardens, it’s a compliment )
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I do like their evolving personalities, Beth, and that stray plant over the other side!
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