Butterfly bush
Cut back hard even in the first spring after planting — this genus flowers on new wood and responds well to a confident hard prune from the start.
Care
Full sun.
Drought-tolerant once established.
Adaptable, free-draining soil of low to moderate fertility; tolerates poor soil, even rubble or waste ground.
Cut back hard in early spring, to a low framework around knee height — flowers on the current season's growth, so hard pruning produces a better display.
Needs no feeding — it grows out of railway walls and rubble. On a garden soil the hard spring prune plus a light mulch is all the input it wants; fed, it makes enormous soft stems that break in wind.
Hardwood cuttings in late autumn are almost comically easy: a pencil-thick length of the year's growth pushed into soil in a spare corner, left alone, roots by spring. It also self-seeds, sometimes to the point of nuisance.
Month by month
Months change with the climate: in southern Italy tomatoes go out two months earlier than in England.
- MarchCut back hard to a low framework. how ›
- AprilLight feed as growth resumes. how ›
- JulyDeadhead spent flower spikes to prolong flowering and prevent excessive self-seeding. how ›
Months based on climate: UK. Your choice stays on this device.
- MarchCut back hard to a low framework. how ›
- AprilLight feed as growth resumes. how ›
- JulyDeadhead spent flower spikes to prolong flowering and prevent excessive self-seeding. how ›
Months based on climate: Northern Italy. Your choice stays on this device.
Common problems
How to spot it. Into unwanted places — a vigorous coloniser.
What to do. Deadhead before seed sets to control spread.
Popular varieties
Questions
Butterfly bush: is it hardy?
H6: Hardy in the vast majority of UK gardens. It survives down to −20 °C.
Can it grow in a pot?
For a season or two, though naturally a large shrub best suited to open ground.
Butterfly bush: when do you prune it?
Cut back hard in early spring, to a low framework around knee height — flowers on the current season's growth, so hard pruning produces a better display. In the calendar for UK, pruning falls in March.
Butterfly bush: when does it flower?
In the climate of UK it flowers in July–September.
When do you feed it?
Needs no feeding — it grows out of railway walls and rubble. On a garden soil the hard spring prune plus a light mulch is all the input it wants; fed, it makes enormous soft stems that break in wind.