Butterfly Bush Gardens Make Welcoming Habitats for Butterflies and Hummingbirds

Growing butterfly bushes is a popular hobby for many Americans? The enchanting colors of buddleia flowers, the bracing fragrance of the leaves, the hypnotic effect of the stems swaying back and forth, the sight of the trees rattling their leaves when touched by the gentle breeze, and of course, the green background of the landscape - all contribute to the uniqueness of a scenic butterfly garden. Hey wait a minute; is something missing? Yes, the butterflies!

Who doesn’t like to see a rabble of butterflies fluttering in the garden? Watching those colorful butterflies flit from one plant to another and circling in rabbles can be a great stress-relieving site for anyone. If your garden is without the butterflies then you might consider making it colorfully attractive by planting butterfly bushes.

Also referred to as summer lilac or buddleia, butterfly bushes are attractive flowering shrubs that can embellish the look of any garden. They grow fast, filling the neighboring space in quick time. And they flourish well in any type of well-drained soil; regardless of it is gravel, clay or sandy type. The butterfly bushes are flowering plants that provide a welcoming habitat for the butterflies and hummingbirds. Butterflies and bees love to feed on the nectar-rich flowers. One good thing about the butterfly bushes is that they don’t drop dead flowers.

Butterfly Bush Planting Tips

There are different butterfly bushes that thrive well in different climatic conditions. They generally spread quickly; hence should be planted at a distance of at least 6 feet away from each other, depending on the specific variety. The butterfly bushes grow at heights ranging from 5 to 15 feet, although some of the newer hybrids are small growing at 3 feet. Typically, they need at least six hours of direct exposure to sunlight everyday and should be watered regularly.

Maintenance and Variety

Butterfly bushes require regular trimming as they can grow fast in quick time. For best growth results, constant pruning of the dead petals should be done; this will make them bloom longer and grow denser. The ideal time for pruning is from July till the tail end of winter. There are over 100 varieties of butterfly bushes in the world. The flowering plants of butterfly bushes come in multiple colors ranging from red and blue to pink and purple to white and yellow and lots more. As a warning, do not use insecticides on your butterfly bushes as they can kill the butterfly larvae or sometimes even the butterflies.

Best Butterfly Garden Plants Habitats

Having butterfly bushes to attract the butterflies and humming birds is a great idea. But it would be wiser to think out of the box and create a friendly habitat for the butterflies. One such idea is to incorporate a few flat rocks in the surrounding area where the butterflies can enjoy and bask in the sun. Also, butterflies need some place to cool off. You can provide a relaxing habitat by including small muddy patches in your garden.

Butterfly bushes are available in a large variety of single colors- purple, orange, blue, red, pink etc. They are also available as bi-colored plants. A great selection of butterfly plants is available in smaller container sizes that are easily affordable from Greenwood Nursery.

Check out our Instant Butterfly Garden Plant Package!

Spring Flowering shrubs and perennials provide brilliant color and fragrance to fill your garden

In the dreary depths of winter, garden lovers console themselves with visions of gorgeous plants that will soon fill their landscapes with glorious color and wonderful fragrance.

If you are in need of a little moral support to lift your spirits out of the winter blahs, I can point you in the direction of a few plants that might not immediately spring to mind, but could be just what you need to treat your eyes and nose a few short months from now.

Regular readers know that, in spring and summer, I like to start our day by taking our first cup of coffee out to a garden bench where we quietly take in the colors and aromas of the plants as they begin to wake up and stretch towards the morning sun. Somehow, it is a time that is both calming and stimulating, and it sets us up for the hustle and bustle of the day ahead in the nursery.

So let’s start with a shrub that certainly could be the poster child for fragrance-and-color plants.

Dwarf Philadelphus 'Snowbelle' Mockorange

I believe this is perhaps the most fragrant of all the Mock Oranges. For me, inhaling the sumptuously intoxicating orange sweetness given up by the pure white blossoms of Mock Orange Philadelphus Snowbelle is pure heaven. It has gracefully arching branches and sure to be fragrant white flowers clustered along the branches.
A newer spring flowering dwarf shrub that grows 3 to 4 feet tall.

Persian lilac - Syringa x persica

This is a graceful, arching spring flowering shrub reaching to a height of 4 - 8 feet and half again as wide. The flowers of the Persian Lilac are delicate blend of pale violet and lavender and are very fragrant. The 2 - 3 inch long blooms appear in late spring and bloom abundantly into early summer, attracting bees, butterflies and birds.

The rounded and low mature form makes the Persian lilac a perfect plant to be used in a foundation planting or as a border plant. The blooms can be cut and taken indoors for a lovely scent and floral display. Zones 3 to 7.

Monarda Blue Stocking

Although the name makes one assume the flower color is sky blue, in fact it really has uniquely shaped flowers that are a striking violet/purple and appear in July on erect stems of very fragrant foliage. This perennial grows to about 2 – 3 feet tall and a width of 1 to 3 feet. Monarda Blue Stocking is very attractive, and acts as a magnet to bees and hummingbirds.

They thrive in full sun or partial shade and evenly moist soil. As a bonus, they are quite deer resistant. A good choice for a border plant and nice for cut flower arrangements with its aromatic leaves. Zones 4 – 8.

Buddleia Bi-Color

You probably know that Buddleia is known as the “butterfly bush” but this one is rather special. It is the first butterfly bush to sport two different colors on the same bloom stalk; rich lavender combined with butterscotch yellow. Buddleia Bi-Color is easy to grow, extremely fragrant and will attract tons of butterflies to your perennial border or patio garden area. Buddleia Bi-Color blooms all summer long with most blooms measuring 5 - 6 inches and some growing out to a full 10 inches at the end of the growing season with a jubilant fragrance almost overwhelming to their color show.

The Buddleia Bi-Color reaches 5 - 6 feet in height and by cutting back each winter more branching and more blooms will appear each and every subsequent season. Buddleia Bi-Color grows easily in any sunny, well drained area, while demonstrating fantastic drought tolerance and indifference to extreme heat and humidity. Zones 5 – 9.

Eye-popping color and invigorating fragrance. What more could you ask! Hopefully, I’ve stimulated your senses and lifted your spirits with the suggestions. Take heart, garden lovers. Winter will soon be behind us!

Butterfly bushes benefit from fall pruning

Today we have questions from several different parts of America… and even one from India!

QUESTION: “I planted some Rosa rugosas and butterfly bushes last spring. All are doing very well. My question is whether I need to prune these back before winter sets in. I live in Albany NY.” -- Gay Malin

ANSWER: The butterfly bushes can be pruned back once they go dormant. In fact I recommend cutting them back to about 6 inches for the first year and gradually giving them a bit more each year when pruning. The Rosa rugosas are best pruned in early spring, primarily for shaping and to cut out any dead branches or any that are touching or crossing each other.

QUESTION: “I am looking to create some privacy landscaping. What would you recommend for salt air? I would like a mixture of evergreens, crape myrtle and grasses. Not sure of the best evergreens for the seashore.” – Deborah Lukens

ANSWER: The evergreens you should use will depend largely on the Plant Hardiness Zone in which you live. If you are in zones 5 through 8, I would recommend Cedar Green Giants for the background of your privacy block, with crape myrtles, laurels or Rosa rugosas on the inside for all-summer color. Grasses and colorful perennials are also a good addition and can give a welcome look to a landscape.

As always I suggest that you sketch out a plan to get your ideas down on paper before you start the project. A background line of Green Giants and soft curving lines of color and texture on the inside will help to create a visually pleasing landscape.

QUESTION: “we have a camping site where sometimes snakes appear. Is there a chemical whose smell would keep the snakes and other reptiles away from the tents, or any method by which we can keep away the snakes?” --Rakesh Jain (Indore, India)

ANSWER: The best things we have always used are moth balls. There are products on the market, of course, but virtually all use the same ingredient found in common moth balls.

QUESTION: “I purchased a Japanese Red Maple sapling nine years ago. It had red leaves for several years, but the leaves have been green for the past two years. The tree is now 15 feet tall; beautiful, but green. How can I help the leaves turn red again, or can I?” – Michael Riley

ANSWER: There are several elements to consider here. First, take a look at the area around the tree to see if it has changed over the years. Japanese Red Maples need mostly full sun to stay red, otherwise they will revert back to green. Has anything been built near the tree causing it to be shaded or is another plant growing between it and the sun?

In some cases, using too much nitrogen rich fertilizer can cause the leaves to turn green. If you’ve been using fertilizer around the tree, you could try cutting back or stopping altogether in that vicinity.

QUESTION: “We planted lavender plants 3 years ago in our garden on the Eastern Shore, Maryland. Nothing happened the first year the plants stayed their original size (about 3"). The second year they started to grow and looked like we had achieved our goal. This year they were flourishing, fragrant and tall.

“Then one day they all just seemed to dry up and die. I'm not sure if they are dead at the root or what happened. It has been hot and dry then wet with high amounts of rain. Should I start over or leave them?” – Janice Enright

ANSWER: The same problem with lavender happened to us too. Lavender is a Mediterranean plant and does not do well with a lot of water. After some trial and error, we have been able to keep ours flourishing by having a sand bed underneath for drainage. We never water, and you should never fertilize. This is the only way we have found to grow it successfully.