Butterfly Bush Cultivars

I have a situation where I want to plant a small area with Butterfly Bushes. In combination, I think, with Caryopteris and some Hypericums. I've never really grown this plant very much, and I have little experience with the different cultivars. I'm hoping for something a bit more compact and fuller than the typical Buddleia. Has anybody got suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Scott

Check out the English Butterfly series.

http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/BULOP.html

B. fallowiana Lochinch is in the 4 ft range. It has an orange eye.

Try this one. I know nothing about it other than I liked it's compact form (under 5'), its got some nice'ish blooms that dangle, it even kinda looked ok with spent blooms the other day. Rostrinucula dependens (Weeping Buddleja) http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/86141/index.html

Gloria,

Thanks for the great link. I had forgotten that Bluestone offered such a large number of selections. Cheap too. I wonder how quickly these little guys take to make an impact in the garden?

I remember reading about "White Ball" some time ago. It seems very promising. As a white cultivar, I wonder if it draws butterflies and hummers the same way as some of the larger and blue cultivars?

As for the other species, B. fallowiana, B. nanhoensis, and B. weyeriana, particularly the latter, do these grow as well and are they as adaptable as B. davidii? Are they just as good to pollinators?

Scott

I agree with Resin. They are now on the invasive list here. I also like B. globosa and the cultivars more than B. davidii.

Scott,

You should give 'Purple Emperor' a try. It is definitely smaller and fuller than others, even within the English Series. As a 3 gallon it lacks a bit of the visual punch that it's siblings have but what can you expect from a more diminuitive thing. It's nice enough to sell well though. I suspect that in a couple of years it puts on a nice show. As Ernesto, my segundo (code for the one who does all of the work ;-)) says: "Jefe, las buddleias son weeds!" And truly, I have seen scattered plants popping up around the irrigated parts of the nursery. I think it's time to start working on some ploidy-induced sterile plants (if possible) in the genus. A #1 pot shifted up to a #3 in mid-May will have rooted by June first, often in a week and a half. Plant and get out of the way.

Regards,
Ernie

I've heard good things about 'Ellen's Blue'- it'll be the next one I try. I've not had good luck with B. davidii so far. I truly don't get how it can grow like a weed for others in my zone and I can't seem to get one decent one going. What I have enjoyed is B. lindleyana. If your design is flexible enough give it a try. You'll definitely attract tons of pollinators. It's not as showy but it has a unique form.

I don't know about growing like weeds, but they sure look like weeds here. They're always scraggly looking. Maybe it's the heat?

I had Lochnich and it stayed small.

I have B. davidii 'Pink Profusion' from Hampshire Farms, which I have never found a single other source of, so don't know if it's really not 'Pink Delight.' It's a compact cut-back shrub, and is not invasive here, in fact it barely made it through winter. This will be it's second year, and if it makes it, I plan to pot it up in a mixed planter. It clashes with every single thing I have in-ground, and looks scraggly to boot, so it makes the 'what not to get ' list. I'm thinking with caryopteris and hypericum, I would definitely go with the yellow or purple colored cultivars. You might want to try them in containers first, it could take a while for them to get as full as you'd like. A pretty caryopteris is 'Arthur Simmonds,' it was trialed here at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

http://www.chicagobotanic.org/plantinfo/pp/PPCaryopteris.html

I'll second that Ellen's Blue.

PrairieGirl's link to ChiBo reminded me of the Sensory Gardens they have. There are some lovely Butterfly Bushes planted there. They've planted the straight species of B. davidii in the Sensory Gardens and they were full.
http://www.chicagobotanic.org/downloads/gardenguides/SensoryGuide.pdf
I couldn't help but notice they also had an exquisite looking Tamarix ramosissima cultivar in the mix when I was there last year. I believe I might have added a photo of it to the PlantFiles but perhaps I added a different cultivar. Decumbent, you might really like the "Summer Glow' cultivar in with your B. davidii cultivars. Will Butterfly Bush cultivars you choose be planted anywhere near that Berberis collection you've mentioned? If so, A T. ramosissima 'Summer Glow' is quite showy and should work well with as a compliment to Buddleia davidii cultivars as well as those Caryopteris and hypericums you are considering.

The best butterfly-hummer magnet I've seen is,clerodendrum tricottomum(sp), I think the name is "glower bower", or haraquin glower bower.However, both hummers, and butterflies love it, and it growes to about 10', with about a 6' spread.Mike

Great advice as usual folks. I managed to unearth a Wayside catalog somewhere and got a good look at some of the "Butterfly Series" cultivars, and B. lindleyeanam, B. fallowiana, B. nanhoensis, and B. weyeriana. They all look like fine plants. That newer B. davidii, "White Ball", looks good too.

Equil, These are all going to my sister-in-laws house. She has a SW corner where the soil is just builders rubble really. Really bad, harsh site. My barberries are all here at my house. They are all non B. thunbergii types. Mostly they are evergreens such as B. x "Amsterveen", B. x "Wallich's purple", B. lempergiana, B. julianne, B. wilsonae. I'm not a big fan of Tamarix for some reason. I know that a lot of people are. Could go back to when I was working at a nursery and a bar-fly type of customber was trying to remember the plant she was looking for. She kept saying, "It's Spandex. I mean, I think it sound like Spandex. You know, Spandex." Finally, I'm like, "Tamarix?" "That's it!" Somehow, I can't get that out of my mind, maybe it that memory has ruined Tamarix for me forever.

Here is a shot of B. x interposita "Wallich's Purple" showing the combination of remaining green leaves and the turning and losing of older leaves.

Scott

mike ~ I think you mean Clerodendrum trichotomum, Harlequin glory bower. I've never heard of this group before, it's amazing! I love the pink buds/white flowers pictured in plant files for var. fargesii. And the berries are all different colors! Are they edible? Can you describe the fragrance, is it really peanut buttery? Could you prune it into a standard?

I bet you would have to keep it in a container Scott, but it looks like it would be worth making room for. That takes you in a whole 'nother color direction. Thank you for pointing them out mike. I love fragrant plants, esp for the deck. We are limited sometimes by the same old things, if we don't know any different, of course. It is not hardy here, so it might have to be ordered. Sometimes in early summer, the nurseries put out jasmine vines or passifloras, those are the only things I've seen.

Wouldn't this be a fun thing to have in a chocolate-scented garden? Now my weakness for Reese's and junk food is really hanging out LOL.

I was typing over you Scott. Do you have more barberry pictures? I know I shouldn't ask.... Maybe in a different thread, because it really deserves it's own? They're much maligned here lately, but I know there are many, many different cultivars and I would like to learn more about them.

If they were in a separate thread, people who dislike them could just skip it.

Scott, you need to get over your mood toward Tamariks. They are very cool Woodies, and you know it.

:)

Actually, I was thinking you should cultivate one and name it "Spandex Roots" and have "Pickles" make grafts of it for you. You could imortalize it. Everyone will want one!

Patrick,

I have a new direction in life! Great suggestion, and I'm off and running. Everybody, be looking for "Spandex Roots" Tamariks at a nursery near you soon. Maybe I can get Terra Nova to market it!

Scott

I actually think the Clero. trichotomum is hardy to zone 6. Most of the other clero's are tropical but this one's pretty hardy.

Oh right you are, I'm in zone 5, so not hardy to me. Zone envy rears it's ugly little head LOL.

I have one of those Summer Glow spandex plants. I always thought they were CO's #1 invasive. Only seen a few lists with them on it here.

http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/us/en/product/7138/1

Here's a pea, lathrus belinensis, to climb through your orange- eyed Lochinch.

Hypericum calycinum (Aaron's Beard) is a really nice yellow flowered one that would probably work well with the Buddleia. There's a Tamarix pentandra that blooms white which also would fit in lovely with what you're proposing to do. I'm not sure of the zone on it though. Lucky Sister In Law!

BCGal,

Tamarix is on the invasive list for the southwest as it rapidly colonizes along desert streams and probably anywhere else it can. I haven't seen it do that here. I'm with Scott about not liking it but because it gets so ratty looking, in or out of a pot. Puts out great big gorgeous flowers but can't seem to keep the rest of itself very tidy without help. I dunno, maybe I'm just grouchy today? ;-)

Regards,
Ernie

Not sure who you are referring to as my user name is clearly terryr, but I'll take a wild guess that BCGal is me. Since Scott hasn't said he's planting anything in the southwest and I don't believe that there are any desert streams in Ohio, it's a good bet that Tamarix wouldn't be invasive there. He's already stated that berberis thunbergii isn't invasive anywhere near him, so why assume that Tamarix is also?

terryr

Hi Terry,

I think that we've come to a misunderstanding. :( I meant to type 'BCAl' (for bigcityal) who had posted about them being invasive in CO. I then tried to quantify it by saying that I'd not seen it around here and then started grousing about them not doing what I thought they should, when I thought they should. Sorry about any misunderstandings. All that warm weather have the frost out of the ground in Bureau County? We are starting to dig trees now, a sure sign that extended periods of warmth are not far away. The perennials are popping in the coldframes!

Best Regards,
Ernie

Hi TerryR,

I think the post for BCGal was meant for BigCityAl. It seems to fit as a response to BigCityAl's most recent post. Terry, I think I am going to use H. calycinum. I really like that plant, and a lot of Hypericums, for that matter. And I think it would do a good job of taking up some of the space and hiding the legs of the Buddleia. And I thinkt he yellow flowers would work nicely with the Buddleia and Caryopteris flowers...if they bloom at the same time. I can't remember quite when H. calycinum blooms. If it's too early, I might look into using "Gemo," which I know blooms late.

Gloria, That is a lovely bloom on that pea! Beautiful. I am way behind when it comes to assimilating annuals into my garden. I need to catch up!

PG and Ecrane, Somehow Clereodendron has remained off my radar. Frankly, all I know about it is what I've just learned from you two. Sounds interesting.

BigCityAl and Ernie, That's a great shot of Tamarix, Al. It is very beautiful.I have been tempted by that fuzzy foliage and flower before, but somehow could never quite pull the trigger. And there is that whole spandex lady thing! LOL

Scott

Oops. I was typing over you Ernie. Sorry.

scott

I'm sure you can see how BCGal and my being from Bureau County and being a Gal would make sense in the literal sense of the wording.

Scott, I've heard that H. calycinum blooms in May. The latter part of May. It will indeed take up space, so I am told. I have no hands on experience with the plant.

Scott,

In St. Louis, MO, Hypericum calycinum seems to flower in June and a bit of early July. Thanks to the Mobot's excellent research tool: http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/bloomd.asp?code=A520 It's a very nice plant.

Terry- completely understandable. In fact, I didn't even see how well my typo tied into your situation until you pointed it out. Well, time for me to hone up the typing skills as well as the proofreading skills.

Regards,
Ernie

jeez - missed something here

I would agree they look ratty and woody when old - I've seen some 20'ers that might as well be cut down. I would think some renewel pruning would help with that and the size.

Not a problem Ernie ;)