Buddleja 'WISTERIA LANE'

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.

Wisteria Lane is the name of the hackneyed street from Desperate Housewives tv series, where purple wisteria blooms whenever the camera pans to the exterior of any house. Apparently even in winter. It's called the American miracle. But this time we are not talking about American TV culture, but about a unique variety of butterfly bush with pendent flowers that really resemble wisteria inflorescences. The variety was bred by Hans A. Hansen from Walters Gardens nursery in Michigan, USA, and is protected by patent No. PP27833 granted in 2017.

Wisteria Lane is a butterfly bush with unusually weeping branches and a number of large inflorescences, which are thyrsus – compound racemes. They are up to 22 cm long and 6 cm wide, very fragrant, pendulous and pale lavender-violet in color. They start to bloom in July and if you regularly deadhead spent flowers they keep on producing new flowers until late summer. Deciduous leaves are opposite, 10-14 cm long, narrowly lanceolate, medium green above and silvery on reverse.

The shrub grows moderately fast and, despite its slightly weeping character, forms a strong framework of upright branches to a height of around one meter. After reaching this height, the branches begin to arch.

Butterfly bush requires little care. Still, there is one thing we strongly recommend: hard pruning every spring to low permanent framework when buds begin to swell. You can fertilize it during summer using selective fertilizers high in phosphorus to encourage production of flowers. 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 07-09-2023