Buddleja davidii 'SUMMER BIRD White'

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, there are many modern plants that are bred for smaller and compact growth. SUMMER BIRD is a series first introduced in 2017 which offers smaller, compact or even dwarf varieties.

SUMMER BIRD White is a small butterfly bush from the SUMMER BIRD series producing creamy white flowers composed in medium-sized, chubby panicles from mid July until autumn if you regularly deadhead spent flowers. Individual flowers are tubular, sweetly fragrant, and have an orange throat. Deciduous leaves are rather small, narrowly elliptic, serrated at margins, and medium to light green with blue green hues. The shrub grows into a globular habit and regularly pruned plants seldom exceed one meter tall and wide.

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 05-10-2020; 12-08-2022