BUDDLEIA (Buddleja). Butterfly bush. Scattered over Asia, Africa and the Americas. A group of about 100 shrubs, both evergreen and deciduous, several of them extremely ornamental. Most of these have willowy stems, sometimes suckering and forming dense thickets from the base. The leaves are generally set in pairs, broadly oval to narrowly lance-shaped, usually conspicuously hairy on at least the lower surface. The following are mostly summer blooming, though a coastal climate tends to draw out the flowering season. They have dense, usually elongated clusters of verbena-like, often fragrant flowers in many shades, from white to midnight purple, pink to crimson and even yellow to orange. As the common name suggests, they also do a fine job of attracting butterflies to the garden. These are rugged, easily grown shrubs, though sometimes a little rambunctious for smaller gardens. The older stems should be cut back hard each winter to encourage new shoots and keep the plants looking fresh. They thrive in a sunny spot, in most soils, with moderate watering (many are fairly drought tolerant when established, but need some supplemental watering to look their best). The following are hardy to 0oF or less
alternifolia. Fountain butterfly bush. A willowy shrub up to 15' high and wide. It has long, arching, slender stems, which arch gracefully out and down. The leaves are up to 4“ long, narrow and dark green above, grey beneath, alternating rather than paired along the branches as in B. davidii. Dense clusters of lilac to purple flowers are borne along the previous season’s stems in spring. The cultivar ‘Argentea’ has leaves which are grey-hairy both above and below.
crispa. Himalaya. This is a 6-10’ shrub with rather stout branches, thickly set with broad, wavy-edged leaves up to 6" long. The leaves are grey and fuzzy above, white-woolly beneath. The flowers are soft lavender in color and carried in dense 3-6" clusters in summer and fall. This is one of the less hardy of the buddleias, though still safe to around 15oF. Our thanks to Meika at the Berkeley Horticultural Nursery.
davidii. China. This species and its hybrids are by far the best known of the buddleias. Most are extremely robust, the stems arching and extending 8--15' in a single season. Young shoots are neatly lined with pairs of long, tapered leaves, dark green to grey green above and felted with white hairs beneath. Throughout the summer months they bear long, pointed clusters of fragrant blossoms at the shoot tips. Pruning them back after each wave of bloom can extend the season considerably. Current selections of the typical form include ‘Black Knight’, with violet blossoms; ‘Pink Charm’, with soft pink shades; ‘Orchid Beauty’, with vivid purplish red blossoms; and ‘White Profusion’, with snow white flowers. ‘Harlequin’ should satisfy the current rage for all things variegated. It has irregular yellow margins on the new leaves, changing to cream, and reddish purple blossoms. The variety nanhoensis is distinguished by generally smaller size, more compact growth and smaller and narrower leaves. The selection ‘Nanho Purple’ is a striking shrub with silvery leaves and deep purple flowers. ‘Nanho White’ is an attractive companion selection with pure white flowers. Sun, most soils, moderate to occasional watering. ‘Lochinch’ is a hybrid with B. fallowiana, distinguished by very white-woolly stems and undersurfaces on the leaves and long, branched clusters of light lavender-blue flowers.
BUDDLEIA globosa. (Description in progress. Please check later.)
lindleyana. China. An evergreen species, growing about 6’ high and suckering to make broad thickets (unless, of course, you are armed with shovel and have other ideas). It has attractive pointed-oval, bright green leaves, paler beneath. In late summer and fall its shoots are tipped by nodding, branched clusters of beautiful purple flowers. This is an attractive shrub at all times, and useful as a filler for large empty spots in the garden. Probably hardy to 10oF.