Long panicles in white, red, pink and purple open through the summer, and the scent they give off pulls butterflies in from across the garden. Buddleia (Buddleja davidii) is the butterfly bush, good as a hedge, a standalone or a shrub bed subject; give it full sun and a hard cut back each year, and it flowers all the more.
| Name | Buddleja davidii |
|---|---|
| Family | Scrophulariaceae |
| Type | shrub |
| Height | 6 ½ to 16 feet (2 to 5 meters) |
| Exposure | full sun |
| Soil | ordinary |
| Foliage | Deciduous |
| Flowering | midsummer to mid-autumn |
Planting, care and pruning are steps that will enhance blooming.
Buddleia is preferably planted in fall in order to ensure root growth and thus proper settling in in spring.
It is also possible to plant buddleia purchased in containers (pots) in spring if the precaution is taken to provide proper watering at the beginning.
Buddleia is qualified as an invasive species because its capacity to propagate through seed is so high. It thus isn’t necessary to propagate it, just wait for it to do so on its own!
Technically, it is possible to prepare buddleia through cuttings at the end of summer.
Take note that buddleia is very invasive and can quickly become a cumbersome friend.
Butterfly bushes differ far more in size and flower colour than in the care they need, so pick on where the shrub has to fit and what shade you want beside it. The selection below covers the cultivars most often found on garden centre benches.
| Variety | Flower colour | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| ‘White Profusion’ | White, orange eye | Pale hedge, evening garden |
| ‘Empire Blue’ | Violet-blue, orange eye | Flowering hedge |
| ‘Pink Delight’ | Bright pink | Mixed shrub bed |
| ‘Black Knight’ | Deep violet-purple | Back of border, tall screen |
| ‘Nanho Blue’ | Lilac-blue | Small garden, narrow border |
| ‘Royal Red’ | Magenta-purple | Standalone specimen |
| ‘Harlequin’ | Red-purple, cream-edged leaves | Foliage contrast in a bed |
Buddleia is a shrub that is easy to care for, especially if it is well settled in. The only consideration is to severely cut back your buddleia every year.
You’ve got 2 options to prune, both cases are at the end of winter:
Buddleia isn’t particularly thirsty, but watering in case of heat wave or prolonged dry spells is recommended.
Mulch in the summer helps retain moisture in the soil and also avoids weed growth.
In spring, adding flower shrub fertilizer will increase the blooming.
Buddleia asks for very little, but the few jobs it does need fall at set moments of the year. Here is what each season calls for.
| Job | When | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Planting in open ground | Fall | Roots settle in before spring growth starts |
| Planting from a pot | Spring | Container plants go in, with careful watering at first |
| Hard pruning | End of winter | Cut back shoots of the previous year, or rejuvenate completely |
| Taking cuttings | End of summer | Semi-hardened new growth, 6 inches (15 cm) long |
| Watering and mulching | Summer | Water in heat waves; mulch keeps soil moist and weeds down |
Miss the winter cut and the shrub still lives, but it grows sparse and leggy instead of flowering freely.
Buddleia is a shrub with an abundant and generous blooming.
Forming nice panicles with colors ranging from white and red to pink and purple, this shrub is perfect to plant as a hedge.
It also stands out great as a standalone or in a shrub bed.
Also also called “butterfly bush“, the fragrance released by its flowers is what makes buddleia so appealing to our fluttering friends. Some, like the cabbage white, even lay eggs on this shrub’s leaves.
Buddleia blooms in summer for the greatest joy of butterflies!
Lastly, being both easy to care for and very hardy, buddleia is a very simple bush to grow.
Read also on shrubs:
Cut short from late autumn onwards. This will give your shrub even more vigor!
For a buddleia that doesn’t bear flowers, try cutting it back at the end of winter, it should thank you…
