Attract beautiful butterflies to your garden with a butterfly bush.
Planting, Growing, and Pruning Butterfly Bushes
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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.
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.
Catherine Boeckmann
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Hi Linda,
Some of our readers have had success growing a butterfly bush near a black walnut tree. Some varieties do better than others.
I started my Butterfly Bush from seed last year. The seedlings remained very small until late fall when they just shot up in height. Now they are about 1.5ft tall. At what point/height do I start pruning them? They do not have any flower blossoms on them. I live in Georgia.
The bush blossoms on new wood. Even if there is no die-back cut them back to the ground every spring. Even where winters are mild enough for the stems to survive, prune severely to stimulate abundant growth on which flowers are borne.
I live in New Mexico near Albuquerque. My butterfly bush has got healthy looking green leaves. I planted it where it will get direct morning, and late afternoon sun. Some of the leave are turning black on the tips and curling. Is this a sign of watering too much?.....or is it being caused by something else?
We planted butterfly bushes last summer and they did well all through the growing season. I have read that they should be cut back in early spring, but I've found conflicting information about how far to cut them back: some sources say to cut them back to the ground; others say to cut them back to 1-2 feet high. My bushes are probably about 2 feet tall and this is their first spring in the ground. We live in Northern VA and they are planted in full sun at the top of a small slope, so the soil gets decent drainage. I'm not sure how far to cut them back, or if I even should this first year...any guidance is greatly appreciated!
I live in southern Florida and have 2 butterfly bushes that, while green and growing,are not blooming. I have been feeding osmocote and since reading the instructions on this site, am worried I may have over fertilized. I would love to see blooms this year, how do I correct this mistake? Thank you for any advice.
Butterfly bushes only bloom on "new" growth. Have you ever pruned it back? Hard as it is to do (and maybe believe), these plants thrive when they are cut back to 12 to 24 inches high, ideally in early spring—or, thinking of south Florida, when spring conditions exist. If your plant is already leafing out, prune out some of the older branches. Sprinkle fertilizer around the drip line (outer "ring" of branch shadows; not at stem) in March or April, and then again in mid-summer. No need to overdo it. Just as, if not more, important is good, rich compost. If that's not at the base of the plant now, get some, and gently scrape off some of the existing soil and work compost in. Put down some moisture-holding mulch, too.
Here in the UK Buddleia Davidii are viewed as a somewhat two edged sword in the garden. At best they are a great attractant to butterflies, bees and other nectar feeders. At worst they are an invasive weed. They need savage pruning when dormant if they're not to become a nuisance plant. And don't be fooled that they will suffer if they're not pampered and mulched over the winter period. They breeze through it with no apparent harm. Control them or they will control you!
Hi! We have a really short growing season here so we decided to keep my butterfly bush in its pot until next year. It was doing great until a week or two ago when it stopped growing and the leaves started to curl and turn brown. I can't figure what is wrong. I trimmed it the first time about a month ago but thats's all that has changed.
It's natural for a butterfly bush to turn brown in the fall. Water the bush well and move the plant next to a southern facing wall for added warmth and protection. Also cover the pot with mulch (straw works well).The plant may also be moved into an unheated garage or cool basement. If moved indoors, be sure to check the soil moisture every couple of weeks and water as needed. Pruning is best done in early spring while the bush is dormant.
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