Featured Plant:
Butterfly Bush

Plants that attract butterflies are prized in your landscape. And no plant attracts more butterflies than the aptly named butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii). It’s a magnet for all the butterflies who pass through your garden seeking nectar. Many butterfly gardeners plan their garden around this shrub.

The blooms consist of long flower spikes with clusters of flowers, which can be purple, pink, white, yellow or red, sometimes with an orange center. The flowers look like a bottle brush with the stem in the center and flowers coming off on all sides. The length of the flower can range from 3 to 10 inches, depending on the variety. The blooms continue all summer and are often strongly scented. The blooms are set off by attractive grayish-green foliage.

Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds will flock to the honey-scented blossoms, whose dilute nectar is sweetest in midday sun. Near a path or patio, the shrub provides delightful fragrance for you, too.

Butterfly bushes prefer full sun and well-drained soil and are relatively drought-tolerant. The sun will not scorch or discolor leaves. The plants thrive even in the hottest weather.

Buddleia davidii can get 6 to 12 feet tall and have a spread of 4 to 15 feet if unpruned, but there are dwarf varieties. If you have a lot of room, the tall butterfly bush is a good choice for the back row of a perennial border. The natural unruliness of the butterfly bush enhances a cottage garden.

Come up to Lavalette Nursery and see our large selection of butterfly bushes. One of the most popular cultivars is Black Knight, whose fragrant flowers are 4 to 10 inches long and so dark purple they’re almost black. It has an arching, spreading habit which typically grows 6 to 8 feet tall if not cut back in late winter and 4 to 5 feet tall if cut back.

Or you might like Pink Delight, which features fragrant, deep pink flowers on a compact bush. If you prefer white flowers, choose Petite Snow, a dwarf which grows up to 4 to 6 feet tall.

It’s easy to take care of butterfly bushes. Just prune the plants to within a foot or two of the ground in late winter. Blooms are larger and more prolific on new growth.