Buddleia, butterfly bush: 8 pairing ideas

In free hedge

All the great Buddleias thrive in vibrant, flowering hedges where they can showcase their flowers throughout the summer. Fast-growing, they form tall, floriferous bushes.

The combination of a Butterfly bush with its free and relaxed habit alongside trimmed plants such as euonymus, privet, or Elaeagnus will add a livelier touch to a hedge. The lightness of the particularly weeping habit of Buddleia alternifolia will be interesting for creating a flowering hedge in a dry medium.

Some, like Buddleia ‘Silver Anniversary’, feature magnificent silver foliage, while others, like ‘Masquarade’, have bright green leaves variegated with cream, allowing for harmonious or contrasting combinations with a golden Smoke tree or a Choisya ‘Goldfinger’.

The Buddleia davidii ‘White Ball’, ‘White Profusion’, pair well with all sorts of shrubs, such as Ceanothus or California lilacs, Tamarix Ramosissima ‘Pink Cascade’, Altheas, Symphorines, or Callicarpa bodinieri and Japanese spireas ‘Anthony Waterer’ and ‘Shirobana’ that bloom at the same time. From June, the mock oranges also begin their flowering period.

To stagger the flowering times, you can also combine the Buddleias with each other, such as B. Lochinch, which blooms later, in mid-summer.

Weigela florida ‘Pink Poppet’ – Buddleia ‘White Surprise’ – Osmanthus heterophyllus Purpureus – Choisya Goldfinger –

To enrich a natural border

Butterfly trees are wonderful from June until autumn, in natural gardens to create a lush and lasting decor. They always add depth, verticality, and much charm to shrub or perennial beds. With their elegant habit, bushy foliage, and well-branched silhouette from the base, Buddleias colvilei or the bicolour ‘Flower Power’ form beautiful, highly floriferous bushes that reach heights of 2 to 3 m and widths of 1.50 m. When placed in the background alongside a Ceanothus Skylark, a Lagerstroemia indica ‘Violacea’, a Cotinus coggygria ‘Young Lady’, or a Oleander, they enrich and add volume to a somewhat flat bed.

Buddleia colvilei – Lagerstroemia indica Violacea – Cotinus coggygria ‘Young Lady’

To add height and lightness to a mixed border

Used in isolation at the back of a mixed border, Buddleia ‘Pink Delight’ or ‘Lochinch’ quickly fills the space, in 3 to 5 years, and lightens the overall effect. With their airy silhouette and dancing spikes swaying with the slightest breeze, they will look splendid emerging from a billowing mass of perennials composed of large Thalictrums, Campanula pyramidalis, Salvias, lavateras, and Asters laevis.

A flurry of pinks punctuated by clumps of lavenders, Dianthus plumarius, Alcea rosea, Achillea millefolium, Agastache mexicana ‘Summer Love’, or echinaceas will dress the base of their trunks and accompany their unrestrained flowering. Calamagrostis and Artemisia ‘Valérie Finnis’ or ‘Powis Castle’ will temper this summer apotheosis.

Buddleia davidii ‘Pink-Delight’-Thalictrum aquilegifolium ‘Roseum’-Artemisia-‘Valérie Finnis’-Agastache-‘Summer Love’-

A scented garden

The Buddleia davidii is an excellent choice when creating a fragrant garden. Its honey-scented flowers attract butterflies all summer long. Surrounded by a Rugosa Rose, a Syringa Bloomerang ‘Pink Perfume’ with its orange blossom-scented flowering, and perennials used in small touches, such as Lavandula, Dianthus plumarius, Phlox paniculata, or even Matthiola incana with its clove-like fragrance, it will be the centrepiece of romantic and abundant scenes with delicate fragrances.

Not to forget, the Elaeagnus ebbingei whose jasmine-like scent fills autumn days.

Buddlleia davidii – Syringa ‘Pink Perfume’ – Elaeagnus ebbingei ‘Eleador’

In a pot on a terrace

To enhance your terrace and bring life and originality to summer pots, you can install compact, dwarf varieties of Buddleias such as the Buddleia alternifolia ‘Unique’, ‘Nanho Blue’, ‘Lilac chip’, or the B. ‘White chip’.

Buddleia alternifolia ‘Unique’ – Hardy geranium cinereum ‘Jolly Jewel Night’ –

To dress and keep the base of your Butterfly bush cool during summer, pair it with small sun-loving perennials or annuals; asters, dwarf campanulas, verbenas, hardy geraniums, coreopsis, small lobelias, lavenders, or salvias.

In shades of blue

If Butterfly bushes offer a wide range of colours, they are among the most beautiful blues in the garden. Night blue ‘Adonis Blue’, lavender blue ‘Nanho blue’, mauve-blue ‘Blue Chip’, lilac blue ‘Buddleia Lochinch’, purple-violaceous B. ‘Black Night’, mix them to create a azure massif, pair them with beautiful full sun rock garden perennials such as summer asters, Campanula cochlearifolia ‘Elizabeth Oliver’, Pacific Delphiniums ‘Black Knight, Knautia arvensis, Nepetas, Echinops, a Salvia nemorosa ‘April Night’ or a Lupinus ‘The Governor’.

Buddleia ‘Black Knight’-Lupinus governor and Stachys-Buddleja davidii ‘Dart’s Purple Rain’-Knautia arvensis-Buddleia Nanho-

Rose variation

For an end-of-summer scene, dare to create a bold colour combination by pairing a Buddleia ‘Miss Ruby’ with its incandescent bright pink flowers alongside a Chinese Astilbe ‘Erika’ in magenta pink, major astrances ‘Washfield’ with bright pink flowers, an Oriental Poppy ‘Queen Alexandra’, an Achillea millefolium ‘Velours’, a Echinacea purpurea ‘Razzmatazz’, a miscanthus ‘Gracillimus’, or the violet umbels of a verbena from Buenos Aires. Potentilla nepalensis ‘Miss Willmott’ and Phlox paniculata ‘Septemberglut will herald the Indian summer.

The grey foliage of the Artemisia and Senecio will provide a softness of tones in perfect harmony with this range of pink hues.

Astilbe chinensis ‘Veronica Klose’ – Buddleia ‘Miss Ruby’ – Papaver orientale ‘Raspberry Brulee’ –

Fresh and romantic scene

The white Buddleias ‘White Ball’ and ‘White Profusion’ wonderfully complement a white garden in the heart of summer. Digitalis (‘purpurea Alba), phlox ‘White Perfume’, perennial daisies, arborescent hydrangea, Iris germanica ‘Laced Cotton’, Japanese anemones ‘Dreaming Swan’, Cimicifuga racemosa, Astilbe ‘Diamant’, Echinacea ‘Avalanche’, hybrid Gypsophila ‘White Festival’ and shrub roses will take turns at the heart of the flowerbed to bring freshness and delicacy.

Buddleia ‘White Ball’ – Japanese Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’, Fatsia, Persicaria, Lamium – Photo BIOSPHOTO –