Order Your Almanac Today!

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 Bushes
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

Planting, Growing, and Pruning Butterfly Bushes

Catherine Boeckmann
Print Friendly and PDF
Almanac Garden Planner

The Almanac Garden Planner - Use It Free for 7 Days!

Plan your 2025 garden with our award-winning Garden Planner.

Try Now

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 “summer lilacs,” 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—long, spiked trusses—in 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’t 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’s 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 “host plant” 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’t 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.
Varieties

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: Native Plant Finder

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’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann
 

More Like This
Gardening Club

Comments

You can leave it outside and prune it back after frost. When it gets below mid-20s, overwinter your plant in an unheated garage. Keep the soil on the dry side but not too dry. Repot in the spring.

Casper (not verified)

9 years 7 months ago

Live in chgo area,have two butterfly bushes over 10ft apart,same sun and earth.One stands tall and upright the other kind of wilts and/or droops yet flowers what does it lack or need?

That's a hard one. Have you used any fertilizer nearby? Irrigation can move the chemicals into the root zone of one plant more than another. Also, check for insects. Perhaps one has been attacked, but not the other. Otherwise, I suppose plants are like people. Some are heartier than others.

Debbie R (not verified)

9 years 7 months ago

A neighbor dug up a 5 foot butterfly bush and it looks like they hacked through some of the roots to get it out of the ground. They asked if anyone wanted it so I took it and planted it in my backyard. The leaves had shriveled a bit. Do you think the bush may rejuvenate and come back? I live in Maryland. Thanks in advance.

The best times to transplant buddleia (or any shrub) are in the early spring or in the fall. In this case, keep the plant well watered until it's roots recover from the trauma. If the plant is large, cut back some of the excess foliage.

Patty1 (not verified)

9 years 7 months ago

I recently purchased a butterfly bush and it was doing fine, I live in Wv I'm not sure what zone that is I don't know that much about them other than I like them. We have had a lot of rain, and my plant looked totally dead. The neighbor who knows about plants told me I should dig it up because it was gone. I decided to cut it back instead even though it's July, I hope it's not going to make a difference. It was totally green when I cut the dead looking branches back, I just hope I haven't cut it back too early. It was dead looking anyway, I guess my question is do you think it will make it until next spring? I did cut it down pretty short thinking it was dead anyway, my timing was way off. Please help.

It's always good to cut off dead or diseased branches. These shrubs handle stress well and will grow back if the roots are still healthy. Give the bush a bit of time and you may see some new growth.

AniMez (not verified)

9 years 8 months ago

I have a butterfly bush in the corner of my yard. It gets a fair amount of sun, and had lovely blooms earlier in the summer. We had a very early spring, so it probably bloomed earlier than normal. Unfortunately, I have found that grasshoppers are loving on the leaves of this bush - and another that I have. The leaves are chewed to lace. The bush still has new growth though. Lately, the leaves towards the bottom of the bush are yellowing. I live in UT and we have had some very hot weather. I water every day. Am I overwatering it?? I am so afraid to not water - I have killed quite a few plants thinking they were getting too much water when in fact, they were not. The soil is good where this bush is - not clay - good drainage. I do water in the evening - should I water in the morning instead? Any advice would be appreciated!!

Vita (not verified)

9 years 9 months ago

I just planted , for the 3rd time a butterfly bush. I live in The Dallas/Ft. Worth area. It had flowers in bloom on it when I purchased it. Each spike had buds. As soon as I planted it, they turned brown as if they had bloomed but didn't. Any advise? Shout I cut all the spent (under matured) buds off and hope for the best? Or should I just wait and see what happens? I'm so frustrated! I know they grow here; I've seen mature ones...

I just purchased this plant,Buddleia Blue chip Jr., and it is flowering. I live in Southern California, and we have very little rain. How often should I water the plant and do they ever require fertilizer? My nursery told me NOT to fertilize it.