Buddleja FREE PETITE^® 'Tutti Fruitti'

butterfly bush 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. Here is another series called FREE PETITE^® where b.davidii and b.alternifolia were crossbred for extended flowering period and compact growth.

Tutti Fruitti is another compact FREE PETITE^® butterfly bush. The conical inflorescence is only 6-8 cm long, slim but composed of numerous (up to 250) individual flowers. They are pure pink, funnel-shaped, slightly fragrant, and produced in abundance from early July until November if the autumn is sunny and warm. This variety is sterile, not seeding itself around the garden. Deciduous leaves are rather small, broadly elliptic, partly hairy, and medium to light green. Deadheading will encourage production of new flowers. Tutti Fruitti grows slowly into a compact, dense, rounded bush about 50 cm tall and wide. It was patented as PP22177 in 2011.

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 24-07-2020