Buddleja davidii 'Podaras 9' FLUTTERBY PINK

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. American buddleja guru Peter Podaras from Cornell University has already produced two successful series of buddleja - Hinbud and Flutterby, where the latter makes colours so far unseen.

FLUTTERBY PINK is a compact and distinctly upright variety of butterfly bush with extra-large flowers. The conical inflorescence is 25-30 cm long, about 10 cm wide, and composed of sterile, thin, funnel-shaped flowers with less conspicuous orange throat. They are strongly and sweetly fragrant, and continue blooming until autumn if you regularly deadhead spent flowers. Deciduous leaves are rather small, broadly elliptic, partly hairy, and medium to light green.

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 13-07-2020