Growing Buddleias or Butterfly Bushes
Flowering Shrubs or Small Trees With Abundant Fragrant Blossom
Feb 1, 2009
Buddleia Davidii, the most widely cultivated form of buddleia, is a large, gracefully arching shrub. It is native to south west China where it was discovered by a French Missionary, Pere David, in the late 19th century. It thrived in the British climate and is widely naturalised in many areas and you’ll see it flowering happily in unlikely places such as wasteland or along riverbanks.
Following close after the fragrant blossom of the lilac, it produces rich spikes of sweet scented flower in great quantities right through the summer. Different varieties come in a wonderful range of colour, from pure white, through shades of pink, red and blue to the deepest purple.
Buddleias and Butterflies
What raises these glorious ornamental trees or shrubs to superstardom is their attraction for butterflies, which gather in huge numbers to gorge themselves on their nectar rich flowers, jostling for places at the table. There’s no better start towards building a butterfly friendly garden than to plant a buddleia – or better still two or three different varieties to give the longest possible flowering period.
But Buddleia davidii is only one of many attractive buddleia species, all of them sweetly scented and all attractive to butterflies. Longstock Nursery holds the British National Collection.
Frequently grown hardy Buddleia species include:
Buddleia Alternifolia
- Height and spread up to 10 feet, flowering period June. Normally grown as small trees.
- Clusters of sweet scented, soft lilac flowers are carried on graceful arching stems. Buddleia alternifolia Argentea is a particularly attractive silver leafed variety.
Buddleia DavidiiHeight 6-10 feet, spread 5-8ft, flowering period July-September. Some deservedlyy popular varieties, all of which produce masses of large spikes of flower, include:
- Buddleia davidii White Profusion – pure white flowers.
- Buddleia davidii Pink Profusion – rich pink flowers.
- Buddleia davidii Empire Blue – glorious blue flowers with an orange eye.
- Buddleia davidii Royal Red – a rich deep red.
- Buddleia davidiiHarlequin - a sport of Royal Red with attractive variegated leaves.
- Buddleia davidiiBlack Knight – probably the most spectacular with deep purple flowers.
- Buddleia davidiiBeijing – blue/pink flowers which carry on into October.
Buddleia Fallowiana
Height and spread 5-10 feet. Scented plumes of lilac flower from July to September, and silver/grey leaves.
Buddleia Globosa
Height and spread up to 12 feet. Bright orange/yellow scented flowers are carried in balls in May and June - giving the butterflies an early feed. Semi-evergreen in mild areas.
Cultivation
- Buddleias are very easy to grow. Although they will often establish themselves in dry rocky soil, or even the cracks in walls, they do best in rich soil in full sun.
- They are largely disease resistant and free of pests.
- They respond well to a hard pruning after flowering is over.
- A buddleia planted against a south facing wall is particularly attractive to butterflies as they’re sheltered from cold winds and can bask on the wall between feeding.
 |
