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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The butterfly bush or Buddleia is technically a long-blooming shrub and often considered a sub-shrub because it dies back to the ground. It can be trained to look like a small tree, but it isn’t a tree. The shrub can grow to 6 to 8 feet high and 5 to 8 feet wide.
It will indeed shed its leaves in the fall, making the appear dead but it’s not; new leaves will arrive in spring. You do need to prune in early spring; this promotes vigorous new growth and flowering.
We will add that the butterfly bush in considered an invasive now. It’s from China and it can indeed spread outside your yard into your neighbor’s yard so you really need to keep an eye on it. Google more about “butterfly bushes invasive” and learn more.
As far as your neighbor’s go: This is not our area of expertise! Normally, the biggest issue is the danger of a falling limb and related safety issues (which don’t seem relevant here). We would go as far as to say that a neighbor could probably request removal of overhanging branches and roots to your boundary line (and it’s in their right to do so). However, if the branches and roots are on your property and errant leaves fall their way, that’s nature, folks!
A few weeks ago, in my new-to-me, N Alabama yard, I realized my giant overgrown crepe myrtles were hiding a Butterfly "bush". Never in all my life have I seen this grow into an actual tree! At approx 20 ft tall, possibly taller, and branches 6+inches in diameter, how will I ever manage this plant? It isn't invasive, at least in my yard, it resembles a forest tree, with leafing and blooms only at the very ends of the branches. It really is a lovely tree, and I've not seen animals and insects flocking to the sparse blooms so I would feel ok about letting it continue to grow as is, unless it's disruptive ecosystem potential is too great. Any advice as to handle its future?
Thanks, in advance, for some much needed advice!
Wow! That sounds like a big one! If it doesn’t seem to be spreading, then there’s no real reason to get rid of it. We would just leave it be, but would also suggest keeping a close eye on it to make sure that it doesn’t spread and crowd out other plants.
We purchased 3 butterfly bushes last spring and planted them all in the same bed on the SE corner of the house (the sunniest spot that we have). The one closest to the front door has grown very tall (over 4 ft!), but is not bushing out at all. I have 6 or 7 tall stalks and a few lower leaves, but that's it. The plant next to it is half to a quarter as tall with just a few taller shoots while the 3rd plant is barely 6" tall, still green and leafy though. I'm just wondering what would cause such a difference in them since they are all panted in the same soil and get the same amount of light. Also, would it be beneficial if I were to loosely tie the taller shoots together, as in a circle of twine not actually tied to the plant, just keeping it more upright, to "train" them to stand up? Right now they just flop down nearly to the ground because of their height/weight. Thank you so much!
The roots of these plants are susceptible to soil diseases. Are you watering? Perhaps too much: butterfly bush does not like wet soil. You can tie up the branches to get them out of the way, but there is no training this plant. In the fall, you are advised to cut it back almost to ground level. So whatever comes back next year will have its own way.
Hi, I live in Bakersfield, CA. I planted my Butterfly bush last year it grew a little and had some flowers, this year it surprised me and grew to about 7-8' and had beautiful flowers. I have been cutting off the dead flowers even if they are 3/4 spent. Now I notice that the leaves and stems have a pale powdery look. What have I done wrong. Please help I hate to loose this plant, it also provides some shade for my water fountain. Thank you. Maxine
Hi Maxime. Butterfly bushes are relatively troublefree. If you have a lot of leaf wetness, they can get Downy mildew which is caused a fungus. Avoid any water splashing on leaves. Plants need to be watered at the soil level. If you keep water from splashing on the leaves, it should end up fine. Pesticide use on these shrubs is discouraged, particularly when in bloom, because of the wide variety of beneficial insects the plant attracts to keep it healthy.
I was shocked to find out this was an invasive plant. I purchased 10 of these to place around my property from a plant sale run by my county department of environmental conservation and sponsored by the Cornell cooperative! In any case, how long should it take for the plants to establish themselves? They were very small, basically just sticks with roots, when I put them in the ground. That was about 3 weeks ago. When should I expect to see them doing something? Thanks.
Butterfly bush transplants may take up to six weeks to properly root and establish themselves, so all you can really do right now is make sure that they’re getting enough water and sunlight. Once they settle in, they should take off!
With warmer March it try to leaf out they it got colder those leaves die.Not seeing any sign of new leaves coming on this is April 25 do you think it will still get new leaves again?
