Butterfly Bush

By: John Degroot

August 6 2011

Butterfly Bush - Garden Clippings for August 6, 2011

             Like butterflies?  Gardeners looking to attract swarms of butterflies should plant swarms of flowers.  All kinds of flowers of flowers planted in great quantities will surely guarantee visits by butterflies.

              When choosing flowers to attract butterflies, look for perennials that flower in mid-summer when the sun shines highest and the temperature is warmest.  The bonus with summer flowering perennials is they tend to flower taller and longer than perennials that flower in spring.  Good choices will include Liatrus, Summer Phlox, Rudbeckia, Coneflower, Globe Thistle, Tickseed, Yarrow and Joe Pye Weed.

            The best flowering shrub for attracting butterflies is Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii).  Its long arched stems produce colourful cone shaped blooms with a slight scent that butterflies just can’t resist.

              Butterfly Bush is one of my favourite plants because they are always moving.  Their long arching stems wave back and forth in the slightest of breezes.  And when there is no wind the visiting butterflies are a delight to watch.

            Butterfly Bush is not fussy about where it is planted.  They grow in poor soil and they don’t require much fertilizer or water.  For a showy display of blooms, plant Butterfly Bush where it is hot and sunny.

            The trick with Butterfly bush is pruning.  At a minimum the plant should be pruned once, early in spring before growth begins.  Cut it down like a rose bush to about a foot of height.  Soon after pruning the plant will quickly sprout new growth and by summer it can readily reach heights of up to 8 feet.

            Gardeners who may be bothered by the height of Butterfly Bush should prune it 2 or 3 more times in spring.  I recommend giving the bush an initial drastic haircut in April, cutting the stems back to 6 to 12 inches of height.  By the middle of May the bush will have grown to a few feet of height so it can be pruned again to about 12 inches high.  By mid-June the plant will have grown again, so it can be pruned again down to 12 or 18 inches.  Repeat the same procedure in the middle of July.  The benefit of the monthly spring pruning will be a tidy compact plant loaded with blooms in August.  If you missed the 3 consecutive pruning you will have a less tidy plant, with a height of 6 feet or more.

          Buddleia ‘Miss Molly’ and ‘Miss Ruby’ are new varieties with a more compact growth habit and outstanding purplish red flowers.

          The Lo & Behold series of Butterfly Bush which includes ‘Blue Chip’ and Purple Haze are true dwarfs with heights that won’t exceed 3 feet.  Both of these plants have continuous blooming abilities, from summer to fall.

          For those who want huge blooms, ‘Peacock’ or ‘Adonis Blue’ has flowers that are 10 to 12 inches long which will surely attract butterflies in abundance.