Buddleja ‚Pmoore14' BERRIES & CREAM

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. Peter Moore is an English breeder who has introduced a few successful buddlejas, such as Sugar Plum or Silver Anniversary, and is renowned for breeding hardy choisyas. This time he brings something extraordinary - a variegated flower on a butterfly bush. European patent EU52668 was granted in 2019.

BERRIES & CREAM butterfly bush produces 15-20 cm long, slim panicles composed of small, funnel-shaped, fragrant flowers with orange throat. They are a bit naughty when it comes to colour – some are white, some are magenta purple, some are bi-coloured as if you mix a bowl of forest fruit with fresh cream. Pity they are inedible. The ration between white and purple is unpredictable and generally balances on mature plants as opposed to your plants which produce mostly purple flowers with a bit of white here and there. They bloom from early July until autumn if you regularly deadhead spent flowers and follow a regular feeding programme. Deciduous leaves are narrowly elliptic, partly hairy, and medium green. It grows fast into an airy shrub about 2m tall and a bit less 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 about -27°C (USDA zone 5b) it performs better in warmer zones. We suggest buying older plants with woody framework for planting in colder areas.

Last update 18-11-2020