Buddleja Flower Power - Butterfly Bush

Buddleja 'Flower Power', also known as Buddleja 'Bicolour', is a hybrid butterfly bush of modest size, with undeniable originality. Its clusters of purplish flowers opening in a beautiful soft orange and gradually turning to mauve-pink-violet cannot be ignored, as they create a fabulous two-tone spectacle with superb shading. This fully hardy variety blooms all summer, and even until October, covering its slender, bright green foliage with delightfully scented inflorescences. It thrives in ordinary, well-drained soil in full sun. It is truly magnificent as a standalone plant or planted in a flowering hedge.

Buddleja 'Flower Power' was born in the USA in 1999, created by Michael Dirr. An exceptional variety, it is the result of extensive hybridisation work between Buddleja x weyeriana 'Honeycomb' and the commonly found B. davidii species in our gardens. If you do not have a Buddleja in your garden because of its reputation as an invasive plant, this variety is made for you! Indeed, 'Flower Power', which is more drought-resistant than varieties derived solely from Buddleja davidii, forms a beautiful bush measuring 2 to 3 m (7 to 10 ft) in height and 1.5 m (5 ft) in width, with an open, arched habit and bushy vegetation from the base. It grows rapidly. It has the advantage of being sterile and therefore does not spread. It develops evergreen, opposite, ovate leaves measuring 4 to 5 cm (2 in) in length, with a slightly silvery greyish-green colour when budding, on upright, rigid branches. From July to September-October, it bears compact spikes, less than 25 cm (10 in) long, composed of tiny purple-violet flowers that change colour as they mature. They transition from violet to orange, displaying a whole range of intermediate shades along the spike.

It likes well-drained to dry soils, sunny locations, and shelter from wind. Remove faded flowers as they appear to maintain its appearance, and prune quite severely from March to April. There is no shortage of ideas to highlight this unusual buddleja, which is equally beautiful as a standalone plant or in a flowering hedge. In a shrub bed, it pairs well with shrubby cinquefoils, ceanothuses, tarentina myrtle, white buddlejas (White Profusion), or the silver-leaved Buddleja alternifolia. One can choose a harmony of warm tones to accompany it (orange, yellow, salmon-coloured repeat-flowering roses). Alternatively, highlight its complex colour with white flowers and silvery foliage (shrubby wormwoods, Helichrysum rosmarinifolium 'Silver Jubilee', Buddleja 'Silver Anniversary').