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| Common Name: Biological Name: Type: Family: Zone: Height: Spread: Bloom Time: Bloom Description: Sun: Water: Maintenance: Flower: Attracts: Tolerate: |
butterfly bush Buddleja davidii Deciduous shrub Scrophulariaceae 5 to 9 3.00 to 5.00 feet 3.00 to 5.00 feet June to September Mauve blue Full sun Medium Low Showy, Fragrant, Good Cut Butterflies Rabbit, Clay Soil |
Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soil in full sun. Becomes weedy and sparse with diminished flowering performance if not grown in full sun. Does poorly in wet conditions. In USDA Zones 5 and 6, this plant will often die to the ground in winter and therefore is often grown therein in the manner of an herbaceous perennial. Even if plants do not die to the ground in winter, they usually grow more vigorously, produce superior flowers and maintain a better shape if cut to the ground in late winter each year. Removal of spent flower spikes during the growing season will encourage additional bloom. Buddleja davidii, commonly called butterfly bush, is a deciduous shrub that is native to thickets on mountain slopes, limestone outcrops, forest clearings and rocky stream banks in China. It typically grows to 6-12’ (less frequently to 15’) tall with a spread to 4-15’ wide when not killed back by cold winter temperatures. It is noted for its bushy habit, arching stems, showy/fragrant flowers and vigorous growth. It has escaped gardens and naturalized in the eastern U. S. plus Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii. It has been declared a noxious weed in Oregon and Washington. Aggressive spreading has been observed in a number of eastern states including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina. Spike-like terminal and axillary flower clusters bloom from early to late summer, sometimes to first frost. Flowers are densely clustered in showy cone-shaped panicles from 6-18” long. In the wild, straight species flowers are lilac to purple with orange-yellow throats. Numerous named cultivars have been introduced over the years, expanding the range of flower colors to include pinks, yellows, whites and reds. Flowers (each to ½” long) are mildly fragrant, and, as the common name suggests, very attractive to butterflies. Flowers are also very attractive to hummingbirds and bees. Flowers give way to two-valved seed capsules that split open when ripe (about 50 seeds per capsule). Finely toothed, elliptic to lanceolate leaves (6-10” long) taper to long points. Leaves are sage green above and white tomentose beneath. |
| Information on this page is from Missouri Botanical Gardens. or Dave’s Garden |
This page last updated or reviewed [210721]
