Buddleia or Buddleja

butterfly bush

Popularly known as the butterfly bush, the Buddleia group contains some shrubs that every butterfly gardener should have in their garden.

A picture is worth a thousand words... images from 2003

thumbnail link This Buddleia self-seeded in my back garden, so I nurtured it and found it a home by the fence. On this one flower spike are Peacock, Red Admiral & 2 Small Tortoiseshell butterflies. August 8 2003.

thumbnail link Spotted this sign in the plant centre at Stourhead - famous National Trust gardens in Wiltshire. As you can see Buddleias are inexpensive but what does the Small Tortoiseshell cost? August 12 2003.

My Buddleia plants

I planted several Buddleias when I moved to Cirencester in 2000. Buddleia alternifolia is in a pot and attracted a Small White once. The following website pages give more information & images for my other plants:

Buddleia davidii 'Nanho Blue' - purple flowers
Buddleia davidii 'White Profusion' - white flowers
Buddleia davidii 'Black Knight' - dark purple flowers
Buddleia Lochinch - pale purple flowers
Buddleia weyerana 'Sungold' - orange-yellow flowers
Buddleia lindleyana - purple flowers
Buddleia davidii 'Pink Pearl' - bright pink flowers

and in October 2005, I bought

Buddleia Davidii 'Border Beauty' - mauve flowers

because it was flowering in the garden centre.

Gardening notes:

The Buddleias that flower in June should generally be left alone with perhaps a bit of tidying after they flower.
The B. davidii plants, which flower later, should be pruned hard in March. Hard pruning means cutting off the growth above the 2nd set of leaves. They will grow 1 to 1.5m in a season.

Reference Section

Plant Type: shrub

Flowers in August for davidii varieties, August-December for weyeriana, June for alternifolia and globosa.

Height: 2m if you prune them, higher if you don't!
Spread: 1-2m