Buddleja LO&BEHOLD^® 'BLUE CHIP'

Buddleja is better known as butterfly bush. The reason is obvious – from early summer when it starts blooming until early autumn it produces large, scented flowers that attract winged insects, mostly butterflies. Old varieties are commonly large shrubs, however, more and more modern plants are bred for smaller and compact growth.

Blue Chip is a dwarf butterfly bush from the LO&BEHOLD^® series bred by Dennis James Werner from the North Carolina State University, USA. It is a planned breeding programme of hybridizing several buddleja species in order to achieve truly dwarf and freely flowering varieties suitable for the smallest of gardens.

Blue Chip buddleja produces slightly fragrant, pale purple violet flowers with blue tones, composed in short racemes from late June until late summer or early autumn if the weather is sunny and warm. Deciduous leaves are lance-shaped, blue-green with silvery underneath, and slightly hairy. Plants form low shrubs with prostrate branches which are best pruned hard in spring for best results. Patent No. PP19991 was granted in 2009.

Butterfly bush requires little care. Still, we strongly recommend hard pruning every spring to low permanent framework when buds begin to swell. Plant it in full sun, in well-drained humus-rich soil. It will die in boggy soil after winter. Though hardy to -29°C (USDA zone 5) it performs better in warmer zones. We suggest buying older plants with woody framework for planting in colder areas.

Last update 17-12-2013; 05-10-2020