20 Butterfly Bush Varieties That Are Great for Ornamentation

Butterfly bush varieties are easy to care for and look great in gardens, lining a pathway, or as a potted plant on a balcony or courtyard.

There are many different varieties of butterfly bush aka Buddleia davidii that can be used to add stunning color and attract butterflies and other pollinators to your garden or yard.

Below we have discussed these varieties in detail.

List of Butterfly Bush Varieties

1. Black Knight

The black knight butterfly bush is a long-blooming perennial shrub that is part of the Buddleia family that produces deep purple flowers in summer. The unique blooms have an eye-catching dark fragrance and attract Monarch, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, and other beneficial pollinators to any garden. 

As it matures it forms an attractive tall bush with arching branches. However, you must be keen on the matter that it may face different pests or insects such as caterpillars would grow and lay eggs and it would even have spider mites, attack it as well. Which means, you must have different tactics to repel them such as with chemical insecticides or even with home remedies. 

2. Asian Moon

The Asian moon butterfly bush plant is a beautiful, long-lasting deciduous flowering shrub with fragrant purple blooms and a rounded, upright growth habit. Native to parts of Eastern Asia, it is drought tolerant, easy to maintain, and propagate through cuttings or even direct seeding. 

While its arching stems make for a lovely hedge or edging for garden beds, it makes an ideal specimen shrub when planted alongside ornamental grasses. However, make sure that you would provide the right requirements, such as keeping the soil moist, but of course not overly watered, because it can have root rot, moreover, you would also place it in a location where it will receive proper lighting on a full scale and produce beautiful foliage.

3. Flutterby Grande Vanilla Nectar

Flutterby grande vanilla nectar is an ideal selection for gardeners looking for a visually striking, easy-to-maintain butterfly bush variety. You will see it thrive in a beautiful manner as it is placed in the full sun, which is why this plant would start to show its vibrancy from spring all the way through summer. 

This deciduous shrub displays delicate white flowers with yellow centers that look almost like miniature daisies. This drought-tolerant stress-free shrub is hardy in USDA hardiness zones five through nine and will bring endless beauty to any landscape. This plant reaches a height of up to four feet, with its beautiful long and narrow leaves and stems. 

On the other hand, this is the plant that may face different pests, especially some mites and mealybugs would attack it. As a result, you should tackle the issue with finding out where it came from and where they are located, as mites would often show up beneath the leaves. 

4. Blue Chip

A blue chip is a beautiful and unique variety of the butterfly bush cultivar, offering long-lasting color. This herbaceous shrub has vibrant blue flowers that hold their color throughout the growing season and are exceptionally popular amongst avid gardeners. 

Making it an ideal choice for novice gardeners, the blue-chip is low maintenance and suitable for a wide range of climatic conditions. You may aim to grow and see it thrive as you give it the right conditions to grow, which is when you provide it with the right amount of sun, which is direct sun, and place it in a well draining water, where you can irrigate it once the soil is dry. 

5. Flutterby Petite Snow White

Flutterby petite snow white is a compact and low-maintenance variety of butterfly bush, grown for its beautiful white blooms. This dwarf selection reaches about two feet tall, making it ideal for border gardens and pathways, as well as foundation plantings or containers. 

It is a great choice for the busy gardener looking for a reliable perennial that requires minimal butterfly bush care. This means that you don’t have to worry so much about locating it in different places, because it needs a location where it will receive full sun, and the soil should be a fertile one that would not turn the roots weak in their health, and it would have a moist texture. 

6. Inspired Pink

Inspired pink, a variety of butterfly bushes, is an exceptionally appealing ornamental shrub. It displays clusters of vivid pink flowers which cover its arching branches in summer. This shows that the plant would require full sun to thrive in, and it would also make sure that the soil you have placed it in would have proper drainage, because this is the type of plant that the roots cannot tolerate high moisture or water.

This low-maintenance variety re-blooms reliably each year and grows well in average soil types. Its long-lasting blooms attract butterflies, bees, and other beneficial wildlife to help its pollination. On the other hand, be aware that when you are growing this plant it may face some pests such as earwigs. 

7. Hot Raspberry

Hot raspberry is a variety of butterfly bush, which is widely known for its ornamental uses, with its beautiful linear leaves and the little flowers it produces. It is an aromatic deciduous shrub with clusters of bright raspberry-red flowers that bloom heart-shaped through summer and all the way to autumn. 

The stems are short and gnarled, making them ideal for use in mixed flowerbeds and as a specimen in borders. When you are growing it, make sure that you would water it properly only when the soil feels dry, or else the water content in the soil would be too harsh for the plant. On the same note, remember that the plant must be placed in soil that is fertile, and it can also be organic, as long as you place it under direct and bright sun. 

8. Pink Delight

The pink delight is a popular variety of butterfly bush, offering a deep pink flower, a spectacular sight for gardens needing a pop of color. Growing at an average rate, it requires minimal care and maintenance and does best with moderate water levels. Its panicles reach about a foot in length filled with hundreds of individual inflorescence.

However, do note that you would start seeing this plant get invaded with some caterpillars and even with some Japanese beetles, in this case you should take fast action, because as mentioned, they may invade the plant, and start to lay their eggs around the plant, and they would hatch and turn to larvae, and they would harm your plant. 

9. Miss Pearl

Miss pearl is an extremely attractive variety of butterfly bush that has proven to be especially popular in gardens. It features profuse panicles of purple flowers that are particularly eye-catching as they emerge from a backdrop of evergreen foliage. This would bloom and show their beautiful blowers and linear shaped leaves. 

The plant is also notable for its excellent tolerance of salt, making it suitable for planting butterfly bushes in coastal areas and more challenging locations. The soil, on the other hand, should be a well draining one, that can also range to a clay type too, but you should place it in a bright area, where the sun is full for six hours, or in a shaded area where it will absorb heat for four hours a day. 

10. Prince Charming

Prince charming, a variety of butterfly bushes, is an attractive flowering shrub that provides beautiful and long-lasting blooms in a range of colors. These flowers, surprisingly will start to bloom in spring and will be standing till the months of fall season, as they would be resilient to the conditions that are changing. 

It is easy to maintain and adaptable to most landscapes, with its profusion of showy flower clusters providing color and their beautiful linear shaped leaves. An especially nice feature of this bush is its relatively compact growth habit, such has having to be placed in a location that has full sun for long hours in a day. However, you should also remember that it needs consistent moisture around the plant, as this is a way that it would support its drought tolerant characteristic.

11. Pink Micro Chip

The pink micro chip is an attractive variety of the butterfly bush, scientifically classified as Buddleja davidii ‘Pink Micro Chip’. Growing up to four feet tall and wide, this deciduous shrub produces clusters of tiny pink flower buds that ultimately become small fragrant flowers. 

The pink micro chip is drought-tolerant once established as it has beautiful, long, and spiky looking leaves that would also attract pollinators by the little flowers that would bloom. Although short-lived, these butterfly bushes can be propagated easily by cuttings or division. On another note, you should be aware that it may be attacked by aphids, especially in winter time, when they try to find sheltered around your plants’ leaves and lay their eggs. 

12. Queen of Hearts

Queen of hearts is an ornamental variety of butterfly bush known for its eye-catching blooms and low maintenance needs. This deciduous shrub is a hardy perennial, growing to a height of about four feet and sprouting vibrant pink-colored flowers. This plant is quite drought-tolerant and generally disease resistant, however, it needs the proper care in order to grow as such, which is complete sun and a well draining soil, and make sure that the soil would dry well before the next time you would water it. 

Queen of hearts provides an excellent food source for butterflies and hummingbirds, and when they do so, they would pollinate their growth, when the process is successful, you will see the plant thriving in spring all the way through early fall season. Another great feature it has is that this plant would protect your garden from deer and rabbit, because it is tolerant to them. 

13. Pugster White

Pugster white is a variety of butterfly bush that offers an extra hardy and compact growth habit. This shrub produces an abundance of fragrant white flowers on well-branched stems, blooming from summer to frost times. Moreover, note that the Pugster white can reach heights of two to three feet, with a spread of up to four feet. As long as the right conditions and requirements are met, such as the direct sun that it needs, and the well draining soil.

The evergreen foliage remains dense mostly, however, it is prone to be attracted by spider mites, which is a factor that you should have in mind. You can try to spray some chemical insecticides and aim to recover the plant. 

14. Sky Blue

Sky blue is an easy-to-plant butterfly bush shrub that blooms with fragrant clusters of bright sky-blue flowers. Noted for its versatility in landscape design, this low-maintenance deciduous shrub is well suited to sunny areas and can reach heights up to ten feet tall. 

On another note, its dense foliage has a rounded shape and is capable of tolerating sites exposed to strong winds. As this plant is prone to grow from summer through fall, and it would still look beautiful with its lace-shaped leaves. Remember that slugs would try to find shelter below the leaves, and what you can do is to place some home remedies and the plant would start to recover again from the damages that they would have left. 

15. Royal Red

Royal red is a beautiful cultivar of the butterfly bush. This particular variety is known for its deep burgundy-colored flowers and stunning lavender-hued foliage. The blooms are exceptionally long-lasting, making them ideal for gardeners who want to enjoy their plants during the summer months. 

On another note, the Royal red requires minimal maintenance, requiring only regular pruning to encourage active growth, so that the plant would be able to establish itself. However, within these conditions, make sure that the first year that you would water it well the first year, which is weekly, and then water it when the soil feels dry. Different pests such as spider mites, caterpillars, and mealy bugs would try to infest in it, but this is when you should aim to get rid of them.

16. Purple Haze

A dependable and attractive addition to any garden, the purple haze variety of the butterfly bush is a vigorous deciduous shrub known for its vivid purplish-pink flowers which bloom in clusters. 

Its profuse flower spike ranges from three to five feet long, adding volume and texture to your landscape. This bush can be used as specimen plants or planted in groups, as they will thrive from late spring till the heavy frosts. 

17. Ice Chip Bush

Ice chip, a variety of butterfly bush, is an evergreen shrub that produces attractive flower clusters in shades of pink, white, and yellow. Due to its low-maintenance nature, it is a popular choice for those wishing to create a colorful landscape with minimal effort. Ice chip grows in hardiness zone seven and quickly up to three feet tall and wide, when you have to locate it in a plac where it will see proper sunlight, hence it will thrive from summer all the way to fall.

18. Adonis Blue

Adonis bue is a variety of butterfly bushes and is heavily associated with dry and sunny conditions. On the same note, it prefers grassy areas or meadows and its eye-catching colors that are what make it an attractive addition to any garden area. 

It boasts profuse clusters of deep blue flowers along several stems. With a height and spread of up to three feet Adonis blue colonies can quickly become established in favorable conditions, and you will see it thriving from the brightest sun in summer till the cold conditions of winter.

19. Miss Molly

Miss Molly, a variety of butterfly bushes, is an attractive evergreen shrub suitable for many climates and growing zones. Growing to heights of up to five feet, this bush produces fragrant gray-purple flowers that attract pollinators in droves, hence it would start to thrive in spring with the help of the pollinators, and stay as such till winter. 

It pairs nicely with other butterfly bushes in addition to various deciduous and evergreen shrubs creating beautiful landscape designs for any yard or garden. What you must do, to see it properly blooming is to provide the right care, which is, in short, bright sunlight, and a fertilized soil that has well-draining properties. 

20. Lilac Cascade

Lilac cascade is an amazing variety of popular butterfly bushes and is prized for its beautiful cascading clusters of vibrant deep lilac flowers. This shrub attracts butterflies and hummingbirds to gardens while blooming continuously through summer. Make sure that the sun is directly upon it, and the soil has a well draining property, which would require you to water it when it feels dry to the touch.

It features attractive silver-green foliage and rapidly grows up to seven feet tall by five feet wide when planted in full sun exposure. When they are thriving, you would see the clusters and how they add value to the surround landscape. 

FAQ

1. What is the lifespan of a butterfly bush?

The lifespan of a butterfly bush is typically around 10-15 years with proper care and maintenance.

2. How deep does a butterfly bush need to be planted?

Butterfly bushes should be planted at a depth of 2-3 times the size of their root ball, ensuring the top of the root ball is level with the soil.

3. How many hours of sun does a butterfly bush need?

Butterfly bushes require at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day to thrive and produce flowers.

Conclusion

You can see that different butterfly bush varieties can be cultivated in different seasons and here is a quick summary of that,

• Varieties such as the queen of hearts or royal reds can be grown in spring.
• Winter season is perfect for growing purple haze and Adonis blue varieties, because they would thrive in the proper conditions when you provide them
• All these varieties can be cultivated in summer and fall however a few of them such as inspired pink and hot raspberry cannot be grown in fall.

Now you can easily grow your butterfly bush plants in different seasons throughout the year. As you know all about these beautiful plants, which ones would you like to plant? You can check out our post with 14 bushes with purple flowers to add to your garden!

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