Buddleja glomerata Silver Service - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja glomerata 'Silver Service' deserves a place in gardens affected by recurrent summer droughts. Still little known, this extremely bright plant is a beautiful descendant of a remarkable evergreen South African buddleja, adorned with beautifully carved and undulated leaves in white-silver, and soft yellow panicles at the end of spring. The bush thrives in the sun, in open ground in favourable climates, or in a large pot to overwinter in cold regions.

Buddleja glomerata, from the large Scrophulariaceae family, is endemic to the mountainous areas of the Karoo desert in South Africa. This region is dominated by a semi-arid climate where it freezes in winter. Capable of withstanding short frosts of around -8° C (17.6° F) once established, this species appreciates well-drained soils and tolerates the presence of limestone in the soil. 'Silver Service', apparently derived from a subject found in a French garden, was named and propagated by Alan Lewis of Lees nursery in England. This beautiful plant was presented at the Plantarium in Boskoop, Netherlands in 2019.

Buddleja glomerata 'Silver Service', with medium to slow growth, will reach a height of about 1.5 m (4.9 ft) with a spread of 1.2 m (3.9 m). The entire plant is covered with a white-silver fuzz, indicating excellent adaptation to summer droughts. Its upright branches are adorned with oval or elliptical leaves, with strongly undulated lobes along the edges, measuring 1.5 cm to 8.5 cm (0.6 in to 3.3 in) long and 0.7 cm to 4 cm (0.3 in to 1.6 in) wide. When they emerge, their colour is a very light silver-grey, then they turn bluish with age and persist through winter. Flowering generally takes place in May-June, depending on the climate. In the terminal part of the stems, branched panicles of flowers form, measuring less than 15 cm (5.9 in) long. They are almost globular and particularly dense. Each small bouquet is composed of 10 to 20 tiny pale-yellow flowers, from which the stamens protrude, giving the whole a fluffy appearance. When the soil remains slightly moist in summer, this buddleja produces some additional flowers. Slightly fragrant, this flowering is sought after by pollinating insects: the flowers contain substances collected by pollinating insects that transform them into honey.

'Silver Service' will thrive in mild and sunny regions, spared from severe frosts. Unlike many classic buddleja varieties, this one will fully flourish in hot regions, which are very dry in summer. In borderline hardiness zones, it should be placed against a south-facing wall and sheltered from the wind for protection. More continental gardeners, fond of rare plants, can also adopt it in a large pot that they will protect from severe cold in winter. In the garden, in a flower bed or in a large rockery, this bright buddleja will complement the entire range of plants for dry climates: rockroses, lavenders, rosemary, Perovskia, myrtles, Leptospermum, silver bindweed Convolvulus cneorum, salvias, shrubby lavateras, or even coronillas, for example.