We have about 6 butterfly bushes in our backyard. We chop them down to about 12" off the gound at the end of March and the amount of growth on them is amazing. They smell much sweeter than lilacs, but yeah, they bloom for ages and the butterflies love them. We've even seen hummingbird moths at them, which are really cool.

I've heard that lilacs can root from just a branch jammed into the ground. Is that true? I have one extra-tall spindly branch growing off one of my shrubs that I'd like to take down to add some symmetry to the 2. I'd hate to kill it, tho', and if it would root elsewhere, I'd stick it in the ground somewhere.