Buddleja alternifolia (Alternate-Leaved Butterfly Bush)

Fast-growing and cold hardy, award-winning Buddleja alternifolia (Butterfly Bush) is a gorgeous, deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub that can be trained as a small weeping tree. It features gracefully arching branches, studded with lance-shaped, gray-green leaves and sweetly scented clusters of lilac-purple flowers. Borne in the leaf axils along the previous year’s stems, the long flower spikes, up to 18 in. (45 cm), drape over the bush in late spring or early summer. A superb, easily-grown plant that is favored by butterflies.

• Recipient of the prestigious Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society
• Grows up to 10-12 ft. tall and wide (300-360 cm).
• Full sun to part shade lover, this plant is best grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils. Best flower production is obtained in full sun. Tolerates a wide range of soil conditions including poor or dry soils, but excluding wet conditions.
• Perfect for shrub borders, foundation plantings, butterfly gardens, or cottage gardens.
• Flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Deer resistant.
• Propagate by semi-hardwood cuttings
• Prune in late spring immediately after flowering.
• Native to China