蜜桃恋人

How to Grow a Butterfly Bush

Attract beautiful butterflies to your garden with a butterfly bush.

Photo Credit
Willowpix/Getty
Botanical Name
Buddleia davidii
Plant Type
Shrubs and Bushe
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Soil pH
Varies
Bloom Time
Summer
Fall
Flower Color
Pink
Purple
Red
White
Yellow
Hardiness Zone
5
6
7
8
9
10
Special Features
Attracts Butterflies
Attracts Songbirds

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Planting, Growing, and Pruning Butterfly Bushes

Catherine Boeckmann

The butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii) is a fast-growing shrub with masses of showy, fragrant flowers that attract pollinators. Planted in spring or fall before frost, this perennial will bloom from summer through autumn. Learn how to grow a butterfly bush (and learn if you should plant a butterfly bush).

About Butterfly Bushes

Also called 鈥渟ummer lilacs,鈥 Buddleja are hardy to Zone 5 and remain evergreen from Zone 8 south. Growing 5 to 10 feet tall, this large, arching shrub produces an abundance of flowers鈥攍ong, spiked trusses鈥攊n mainly purple and pink colors. The shrub grows well in perennial gardens or as a shrub border, and the flowers are good for cutting.

Don鈥檛 prune at the wrong time. Butterfly bush growth appears on new wood, so pruning should wait until the new wood is ready to grow in spring. Also, be patient with this shrub as it may not leaf out in the spring until after other perennials. 

butterfly on a butterfly bush

Invasive Concerns of Butterfly Bushes

Please note that the butterfly bush, originally imported from China, has been classified as an invasive species in many U.S. states as it鈥檚 known to crowd out native plants that are essential to wildlife. In warm climates, it can become a noxious weed and spread aggressively, while in cooler climates, it mostly stays contained if gardeners deadhead the flowers.

Note: The butterfly bush does provide adult butterflies with nectar similar to that of many flowers. However, it is not a 鈥渉ost plant鈥 for butterfly larvae; if you want the butterflies to stay, be sure to add native host plants such as milkweed, aster, and dill. See plants that attract butterflies.  

If you would still like to put a butterfly bush in your garden, there are a few species of non-invasive butterfly bushes native to the southwestern United States. Also, there are newer varieties that stay compact and won鈥檛 take over your garden. See our native list of butterfly bushes below.

Please check with your local cooperative extension for more information.

Read Next

Planting

Choose a location with full sun and moist, well-drained soil. 

When to Plant

How to Plant

  • Loosen the soil from 12 to 15 inches deep and mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost.
  • Dig a hole twice the diameter of the plant container.
  • When placing the plant in the hole, the top of the rootball should be level with the soil surface. Gently backfill the hole around the rootball. Firm the soil.
  • Water thoroughly.

Growing

Caring for Butterfly Bushes

  • Water freely when in growth and sparingly otherwise. In the summer, water if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week.
  • Avoid fertilizing butterfly bush; too much fertility promotes leaf growth over flower production.
  • Remove spent flower spikes to encourage new shoots and flower buds.  In addition, it is important to deadhead the flowers just as they start to wither so that this invasive plant doesn’t spread volunteer seeds. Deadheading of this invasive is now required in many states.
  • Each spring, apply a thin layer of compost, then 2 to 4 inches of mulch to retain moisture and control weeds.
  • In cold, Northern climates, spread mulch up to 6 inches deep around the trunk to nurture it through the winter.
  • Buddleias are very late to break dormancy, so don’t be in a hurry to assess winter damage.
  • The bush should bloom abundantly even in its first year. In warmer climates, the bushes will grow into trees and develop rugged trunks that peel; peeling is normal.
  • In the northern limit of their range, they behave as herbaceous perennials, dying back to the root in cold winters.

Pruning Butterfly Bushes

Butterfly bushes must be pruned vigorously, or their flowers will grow up so high that you can’t see and enjoy them!

  • Since butterfly bushes bloom on new wood, even if there is no die-back, cut them back to the ground early each spring. Yes, hack to the ground! 
  • Also, prune out dead stems, cutting them close to the ground.
  • Even where winters are mild enough for the stems to survive, prune severely to stimulate abundant growth on which flowers are borne.

Types

We are no longer recommending new plantings of the butterfly bush, given its categorization as an invasive in most of North America. Instead, we recommend using plants that better support the native landscape and food web, given our declining pollinator population. See alternative plants that attract butterflies.

Native Alternatives to Butterfly Bushes

Here are a few great flowering alternatives that also serve as host plants for caterpillars:

See a list of host plants native to your area here:

Gardening Products

Pests/Diseases

  • Susceptible to capsid bugs, caterpillars, weevils, mullein moths, and spider mites.
  • Fungal leaf spots and die-backs can occur.
  • Butterfly bushes are one of many deer-resistant plants.
Shrubs and Trees
About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it鈥檚 not surprising that she and The Old Farmer鈥檚 蜜桃恋人 found each other. She leads digital content for the 蜜桃恋人 website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann
 

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Comments

Stephanie (not verified)

8 years 6 months ago

I cut both my butterfly bushes back in the winter. It's May 20 in the Chicago areaand neither looks like they are developing new growth. Did I kill them?

Betty (not verified)

8 years 6 months ago

I live in New Orleans. I prefer to plant in pots since it's so hard to weed. Will my plant be ok in a pot??

Every plant is an experiment of sorts but this may be more of one than most: We’ve seen/heard tales of mixed success. To answer your question, your butterfly bush might be ok. If it has a large enough pot. And for one season. About the season: It is needs a winter chill鈥攁 period of 20-degree temps鈥攊n order to thrive each year.

We hope this helps.

Maureen Williams (not verified)

8 years 6 months ago

What are these cotton-like puffs filled with seeds? Are these part of the regular cycle of a budalea (sp?), or are they signs of a problem?

Jane deshaw (not verified)

8 years 6 months ago

I was wondering if all butterfly bushes bloom on new growth?The reason I ask is because we have had one for many years, we had problem of keeping it upright.We would it back every fall and in the spring it would grow from the root but only on the outer ring of the roots resulting I in the Bush flopping down like the peel of a banana so we had to support it all the way around the outside. We were advised my a local nursery not to cut it back in the fall but wait till spring when we saw new growth which seems to be on the older branches as well as new growth from the roots.So is it possible that some varieties bloom on last season's growth as well. Since we stopped trimming in the fall we have more blooms although we still have to support it.

Julie Timson (not verified)

8 years 6 months ago

I live in Mi. and I would like to relocate it, when can I move it? and do I have to trim it down first?

Best time to move the bush is in spring, before it starts growing, or in the fall after the leaves turn brown.

You can prune the bush back some for easier transportation.

Bonnie Horn (not verified)

8 years 7 months ago

I live in southern connecticut. My butterfly bush has bloomed for two years. This year it started to bud and we got an ice storm The bush looks like it is dead. Will it come back to life. It is now the end of April. Did I lose the bush?

Chelsy (not verified)

8 years 7 months ago

I live in zone 5. Since I'll be cutting down my bushes every year, and I assume they'll never grow full size, how closely can I space them? Do they still need to be 5-10 feet apart?

Our 5 to 10 foot distance is the same as that recommended by the National Gardening Association and depends on species. Read the plant tag closely for specifics on your type or consult the source from which you bought it.  If you plant them too close, your will have poor air circulation and other challenges which will stree the plant. These are meant to spread out. Again check the plant tag. And, just a thought, if you are planning this as a hedge row…perhaps there is another option.