Which butterfly tree to choose?

Which butterfly tree to choose?

Very floriferous bushes

Contents

Modified the Tuesday, 5 August 2025  by Virginie T. 6 min.

It’s not easy to navigate through the multitude of varieties of Buddleias or Butterfly Trees, the most well-known of which is Buddleja davidii, which comes in a wide range of cultivars.

Choosing the right Buddleia depends on its height, the colour of its flowers—white, lilac, pink, bicoloured, or yellow—but also on the intended location: in a border, flowering hedges, rockeries, or in a container on a sunny terrace.

Unfussy and highly ornamental, while thriving in all gardens, its wild aspect and exuberant flowering are a delight in naturalistic spaces. Its great resistance to high pollution levels makes it essential in urban gardens.

Buddleja davidii, B. alternifolia, Buddleia globosa, Buddleja macrostachya, Buddleia Lochinch, from the most common to the most surprising, you will surely find the Butterfly Tree that suits you among the many varieties, including some rare ones that we offer.

Difficulty

Buddleia davidii: a great classic

how to choose your butterfly tree

Buddleja davidii forms a beautiful, fragrant, and elegant bush, remarkably floriferous throughout the summer.

The Buddleja davidii or David’s buddleia is the most well-known and common of all.

With its slightly casual silhouette and wild appearance, Buddleja davidii is perfectly suited for country hedges and natural gardens.

Its fragrant and melliferous flowers constantly attract butterflies, contributing to the enchanting spectacle and are also very pretty in bouquets. It grows so easily almost everywhere in France, quickly colonising any fallow land that it has been labelled as a roadside tree!

This generous bush deserves to be seen beyond this cliché and its reputation as an invader. Some sterile varieties that have the advantage of not spreading now exist. David’s buddleia has given rise to numerous cultivars and hybrids such as ‘White Ball’, ‘Summer Beauty’,  ‘Blue Chip’…

It blooms from July to September-October and offers abundant panicles of flowers 30 to 40 cm long in lilac or white for wild buddleias, but also intense blue, purple, pink, or red-purple for horticultural varieties. It grows in full sun and is content with any well-drained soil, even the poorest, requiring little or no watering, making it an essential shrub in gardens without gardeners or weekend gardens as well as in fragrant gardens.

You can place it in groups or as a specimen, at the back of shrub borders and in free hedges. It pairs well with all kinds of shrubs, such as Ceanothus and Altheas that bloom at the same time, but you can also combine it with other Buddlejas for a range of blues.

Alongside the imposing form, there are dwarf Buddlejas that do not exceed 1.20 m at maturity, perfect for flowering small spaces or a sunny terrace or balcony.

Our favourite varieties of Buddleja davidii

Buddleja davidii Nanho Blue - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja davidii Nanho Blue - Butterfly Bush

A must-have dwarf variety!
  • Flowering time July to October
  • Height at maturity 1,50 m
Buddleia davidii Black Knight - Butterfly Bush

Buddleia davidii Black Knight - Butterfly Bush

We love its elegant habit and its very intense purple spikes
  • Flowering time August to October
  • Height at maturity 3 m
Buddleia davidii Summer Beauty - Butterfly Bush

Buddleia davidii Summer Beauty - Butterfly Bush

We adore the carmine pink of its fragrant flowers
  • Flowering time August to November
  • Height at maturity 3 m

A choice of pruning: large or dwarf?

Le choix est vaste dans la famille Buddleia, et peut être guidé par la taille en fonction de l’endroit envisagé.

  • Mieux vaut prévoir un espace à la mesure des formes les plus imposantes : avec leur croissance rapide, elles formeront très rapidement des écrans de verdure dépassant facilement à l’âge adulte, les 5 m de hauteur pour presqu’autant de largeur. Les grands Buddleias font merveille dans des haies vives et fleuries ou en arrière-plan de massifs arbustifs.
  • Les formes naines, ne dépassant pas les 1,50 m à maturité, seront parfaites en bacs pour fleurir les petits espaces et les terrasses ensoleillés. Vous pouvez aussi les planter dans une haie libre, de petite taille, pour réaliser une séparation entre deux zones thématiques au jardin.

Chez les Arbres à papillons, la taille varie en fonction des espèces de 90 cm jusqu’à 6 m de hauteur :

  • Les plus grands (4 à 6 m) : Buddleia globosa, Buddleia auriculata, Buddleja colvilei
  • Les moyens (4 m) : Buddleja macrostachya, Buddleja alternifolia ou Buddleia à feuilles alternes
  • Les petits (1,50 à 3 m) : Buddleja x weyeriana, Buddleja davidii, Buddleia Lochinch, Buddleja crispa

Nos grands Buddleias préférés

Buddleja colvilei - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja colvilei - Butterfly Bush

A beautiful botanical species that bears the largest flowers of the genus!
  • Flowering time August to October
  • Height at maturity 4 m
Buddleja alternifolia - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja alternifolia - Butterfly Bush

Its weeping habit gives this Buddleia lightness and originality
  • Flowering time July, August
  • Height at maturity 3 m

Nos Arbres aux papillons nains préférés

Buddleja alternifolia Unique - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja alternifolia Unique - Butterfly Bush

Ideal for small gardens and flowering pots
  • Flowering time July to November
  • Height at maturity 1,20 m
Buddleia White Chip - Butterfly Bush

Buddleia White Chip - Butterfly Bush

A beautiful chic and sterile variety!
  • Flowering time August to October
  • Height at maturity 90 cm

Discover other Buddleja -Butterfly bush

Varieties of all colours

From June to September-October, the branches of Butterfly Bushes are abundantly covered with beautiful terminal panicles of small flowers in varied colours ranging from midnight blue, lilac blue, to lilac pink or intense purple, dark violet, and golden yellow. Combine the varieties to create colourful and floriferous bushes and stagger the flowerings throughout the summer!

For blue hues
For a pink harmony
For fresh scenes
Tonic orange
Buddleia davidii Adonis Blue - Butterfly Bush

Buddleia davidii Adonis Blue - Butterfly Bush

With its midnight blue spikes, it will add intensity to your garden
  • Flowering time August to October
  • Height at maturity 3 m
Buddleja Blue Chip - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja Blue Chip - Butterfly Bush

A magnificent dwarf variety!
  • Flowering time August to October
  • Height at maturity 1 m
Buddleja Lochinch - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja Lochinch - Butterfly Bush

We love its generous lilac flowering
  • Flowering time July to November
  • Height at maturity 3 m
Buddleia davidii Pink Delight - Butterfly Bush

Buddleia davidii Pink Delight - Butterfly Bush

Large bright pink spikes with a honey scent
  • Flowering time August to October
  • Height at maturity 3 m
Buddleia Miss Ruby - Butterfly Bush

Buddleia Miss Ruby - Butterfly Bush

The bright pink almost red flowers of this dwarf Buddleia are unique
  • Flowering time August to November
  • Height at maturity 1,20 m
Buddleja davidii White Ball White - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja davidii White Ball White - Butterfly Bush

A beautiful flowering of white flowers!
  • Flowering time July to October
  • Height at maturity 3 m
Buddleja Silver Anniversary - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja Silver Anniversary - Butterfly Bush

A new variety with white summer flowering and silvery grey foliage
  • Flowering time August to November
  • Height at maturity 1,50 m
Buddleja x weyeriana Sungold

Buddleja x weyeriana Sungold

Surprising long-lasting yellow-orange globular flowers
  • Flowering time September to November
  • Height at maturity 3 m

For a flowering hedge

Most Buddleias are remarkable when used in groups, in free-flowing hedges with a rustic appearance, accompanied by laurustinus, photinias, Ceanothus or California lilacs, weigelias, Althaeas, viburnums, lavateras, and even with English or old roses.

Fast-growing, with their silhouette that is both elegant and unconventional, they quickly form screens of vegetation easily exceeding 5 m in height in all directions within 5 to 6 years. Practical for creating an instant garden! Plant them in a sunny, not too windy location.

Their decorative green foliage sometimes takes on a grey-green hue on the top and almost white underneath during summer, depending on the variety. Some even offer variegated foliage.

For a striking effect, do not hesitate to group different varieties, thus staggering the flowering periods and enjoying their generous pink-purple, bright pink, white, blue, or even orange-yellow panicles from June to October. The variety of their colours inspires contrasting displays or lovely shades of blues or pinks.

The best Buddleias for hedges

Buddleja Flower Power - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja Flower Power - Butterfly Bush

Of great originality with its bicoloured flowers!
  • Flowering time August to October
  • Height at maturity 2 m
Buddleia davidii Masquerade - Butterfly Bush

Buddleia davidii Masquerade - Butterfly Bush

It is particularly decorative due to its bright foliage
  • Flowering time August to October
  • Height at maturity 2,50 m

In a container on a sunny terrace

Some Buddleias that do not exceed 1.20 m in all directions are perfectly suited for pot or large container cultivation. These smaller versions of the tall forms have, like them, the advantage of possessing a very long summer flowering period, from June to October, with a pleasant scent that attracts numerous butterflies. They require a bit more attention than their classic garden counterparts: fertiliser to encourage flowering and regular watering, especially in summer.

Essential dwarf varieties

Buddleja davidii Lilac Chip - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja davidii Lilac Chip - Butterfly Bush

We love this dwarf variety with a very hardy prostrate habit!
  • Flowering time August, September
  • Height at maturity 70 cm
Buddleja davidii White Ball - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja davidii White Ball - Butterfly Bush

A beautiful non-invasive variety
  • Flowering time July to October
  • Height at maturity 1,50 m

Non-invasive Buddleias

The seeds of Buddleia have a great capacity for dispersion. For these reasons, this bush has a serious reputation as an invader and is considered invasive in Europe and certain regions of France. While regular pruning and the removal of faded flowers can help limit its spread, recent selections offer sterile varieties that have the advantage of not spreading. A real plus for small spaces or when wanting to control spontaneous sowing.

Our favourites

Buddleia White Chip - Butterfly Bush

Buddleia White Chip - Butterfly Bush

No more invader reputation: this variety is sterile!
  • Flowering time August to October
  • Height at maturity 90 cm
Buddleja alternifolia Unique - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja alternifolia Unique - Butterfly Bush

It does not produce pollen, so it does not self-seed
  • Flowering time July to November
  • Height at maturity 1,20 m

The most original Butterfly Trees

Next to the classic Buddleia davidiid, some varieties of Butterfly Trees stand out for their originality of their flowering.

Buddleja macrostachya - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja macrostachya - Butterfly Bush

A flowering in long trailing panicles
  • Flowering time June to October
  • Height at maturity 3 m
Buddleja colvilei - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja colvilei - Butterfly Bush

A spectacular flowering reminiscent of that of weigelias
  • Flowering time August to October
  • Height at maturity 4 m

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