With a Butterfly bush, you help wildlife
Want more butterflies in your garden? Put a Butterfly Bush in your garden! This beautiful plant blooms from July to the end of September. Even in October it can still bloom. So you can enjoy the flowers all summer long. And the butterflies that descend upon it, of course. A diverse and climate-friendly garden is a garden where there is room for life: for birds, butterflies and insects. So choose plants and flowers that attract bees and butterflies.
The Butterfly bush in the sun
If you want to plant a Butterfly bush, first check for a sunny and sheltered spot in your garden. Butterfly bushes love the sun! Then the plant will grow and bloom optimally.
Tip: Have you just moved and don't yet have a good idea what the sunniest spot in your garden is? In our garden design tool you know with one click of a button. Enter your address and your plot will load automatically. Through the handy Sun and Shadow Simulation you can immediately see the sunniest spot in your garden.
Discover your garden's sunny spots:
The ideal soil
A Butterfly bush likes to stand with its roots dry. If there is often water in the garden, it is better not to place it there or to dig deep into the soil so that excess water can drain away. Furthermore, the Butterfly bush does not make many demands on the soil. Do you want a perfect soil for your Butterfly bush? Check out this blog about soil improvement!
The Butterfly bush in winter
The Butterfly bush family is large. Butterfly bush is basically deciduous, but in a mild winter it retains most of its leaves. Check out our handy Plant Encyclopedia: it lists various species of Butterfly Bush with their characteristics.
Is the Butterfly bush resistant to frost?
The Butterfly bush loves the sun and warmth. Nevertheless, the plant is somewhat hardy. But if it gets -15°C or colder, chances are this plant will not survive. You can protect the plant by placing a reed mat or something similar around it. Bubble wrap can also be used, but remove the plastic in time to prevent it from rotting away. In this article you can read more about protection against frost.
Butterfly bush in pot
If you do not have a large border or if the sunniest spot in your garden is the terrace, place the Butterfly bush in a large pot. Preferably choose a Butterfly bush variety with compact growth.
Butterflies love the Butterfly bush
How tall does a Butterfly bush grow?
Many species can grow as tall as two to three feet. If you don't have that space, choose the Buddleja buzz: this species grows about sixty centimeters tall. The Buddleja chip varieties also grow compactly and reach about eighty centimeters tall.
Cuttings
Are you impressed with your Butterfly Bush and would like it in yet another spot in your garden? Or would you like to make someone else happy with this insect magnet? The Butterfly bush is easy to propagate. You do that in the spring. Cut off about twenty centimeter long tips of cut branches and put them in moist soil. In time, the cutting will take root: that's the beginning of a new Butterfly Bush!
How and when to prune Butterfly bush?
A Butterfly bush can be pruned back until the end of March. With good pruning, you will enjoy abundant blooms in summer. Horticulturist Henri Jansen explains in this video
There are several species, but the large Buddleja davidii is the best known and available in many colors. There are also smaller species, also in various colors. Depending on the species, a Butterfly Bush can grow quite large and tall. Prune a Butterfly bush as far down as possible. To do so, look at the spot where the young shoots emerge. Prune the plant back just above those young shoots. Use clean pruning shears or a saw to do this. Pruning restores air and light to the shrub and eventually the most beautiful flowers will grow again. Pruning is flowering. So don't be afraid to put the pruning shears into this plant.
Pruning for a second bloom
If you want to enjoy the beautiful flowers twice in the same year, cut out the spent flowers after the first bloom. The second time the plant forms flowers, they can be seen into October.
Rejuvenate butterfly bush
If you planted a Butterfly Bush several years ago, it is wise to take out a thick, older branch to rejuvenate the bush. This way you keep the shrub vigorous. See how Henri Jansen rejuvenates the Butterfly bush? Check out the video!
Moving butterfly bush
Are you going to plant a new Butterfly Bush or want to move it in your garden? Older specimens often have only a few tap roots, which makes transplanting difficult. Poke the plant well two to three times in one year. That way you force the plant to put on extra hair roots and you have a better chance of success. Often soil conditions are not optimal for the plant to grow well. Consider new construction soils that are completely disturbed and compacted. In that case, use a soil conditioner. There are many soil conditioners on the market, all working on the same principle. The fungi and bacteria in the agent make soil life more activated. This allows plants to grow better. Want to know more about this? Then watch the video in which horticulturist Henri Jansen explains the usefulness of such agents.
Did you know that...?
...butterflies are so pleased with the Butterfly Bush because the flower tube is long and narrow? This allows only insects with long tongues to snack on the nectar. The Buddleja globosa, with its orange-yellow bulbs is a distinct appearance!
Even more butterfly magnets
Besides the Butterfly Bush, more plants in your garden that attract insects? Then go for Lavender, Ornamental Onion, Catmint, and Mountain Thyme. Also Winter heather, Salvia, Viburnum and Autumn asters are favored by butterflies.
See the result
See how Henri Jansen rejuvenates the Butterfly bush? Check out the video!
See how the butterfly bush comes into its own in your garden:
