How to Grow and Care for Butterfly bushes

Buddleja davidii, commonly known as butterfly bush, is a fast-growing shrub native to East Asia. This vigorous plant is usually cultivated as an ornamental, due to its extravagant purple inflorescences. It carries the name butterfly bush because its flowers are a valuable source of nutritious nectar for numerous butterfly species.

Alternate-leaved butterfly-bush is a flowering plant endemic to China. It is a sought-after garden plant, particularly in the United Kingdom, due to its mildly fragrant cascade of lilac flowers that attract butterflies in particular. This is where the shrub gets its common name.

Also called weeping butterfly bush, lindley's Butterflybush (Buddleja lindleyana) is a shrub that’s indigenous to China. The sweet-smelling flowers of this plant attract both butterflies and hummingbirds in droves. While many other plants will just wither away and die in locations with lots of sun and little shade, that’s not the case with lindley's Butterflybush.

Dog tail (*Buddleja asiatica*) is a useful wildflower since it is commercially used for animal fodder. In Nepal, the Thangmi people use the plant's attractive white flowers to make necklaces for weddings. This plant is a popular garden flower, and it has been grown in the UK since its introduction in 1874.

White flowered butterfly bush (Buddleja albiflora) is occasionally grown ornamentally, despite the fact that its glamorous relatives are more popular. Its elegant felted leaves and aromatic flower pannicles still offer plenty of garden appeal. The Latin name Buddleja albiflora refers to white flowers, even though the attractive blooms of this plant are pink.