Butterfly Bush

Buddleja davidii (or Buddleia davidii)

Who doesn't want a plant called a Butterfly Bush!? Such savvy marketing leads us astray!

Maybe you love Butterfly Bushes for their shape and color and their interesting blooms. Or maybe you love them for their drought tolerance and easy care. Or maybe you really love them because you really love butterflies! (I’m betting this is our main camp!) So why would we ever ask you to NOT plant that next butterfly bush? 

This one is a hard one!

Butterfly bushes are such pretty plants. We love pretty plants! (Have you SEEN our Instagram feed!?!) Wandering through our many growing spaces at Painters, one could even presume that pretty is our only game. 😀 But in the many years we’ve been growing and selling plants, we learn more and more the importance of beneficial alongside beauty. We want to appreciate and support diverse wildlife alongside an aesthetically beautiful natural space. And frankly, it’s an easy thing to do once you realize how many plants are both beautiful AND beneficial! 

Butterfly bushes are undeniably attractive to butterflies with their abundant nectar. They draw adult butterflies with their flower spikes, but butterfly species need resources in all stages of life. Native to China, butterfly bush is not a host plant for any native North American butterfly caterpillars, meaning they cannot use it as a food source. Without caterpillars, there will be no adult butterflies. Also without caterpillars, birds will not survive. The last thing any of us intended when planting that pretty butterfly bush is a decline of local butterfly and bird populations, but that could be an indirect result. While the nectar may feed adults, their young need food too.

Buddleia can inadvertently disrupt local ecosystems in other ways too. Each of their many flower spikes can produce up to 40,000 tiny dust-like seeds. Add wind and water and this non-native, easy-to-grow plant becomes quite prolific. Sometimes spreading into edge habitats and outcompeting native plants that our local butterflies and other pollinators rely on for food and shelter throughout their entire life cycle–not just for nectar. 

By choosing native alternatives, we can offer a more comprehensive and sustainable support system for our local butterfly populations and contribute to the overall health and biodiversity of our WNC environment. There are many stunning native flowering plants that are just as enticing to butterflies and play a critical role in our local food web.

Let’s give you some great alternatives!

Clethra

Virginia Sweetspire

You can create a haven for local butterflies and other pollinators by selecting a native flowering shrub that thrives in your specific site. For sunny locations, Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) and Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica) are beautiful and beneficial options.

Buttonbush

New Jersey Tea-- Photo Credit: John Oyston, via Wikimedia Common

If you have wetter soil, Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) is a great choice with incredibly fun blooms that support a multitude of moths and bees as well as butterflies, as is New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus) with its large, airy blooms that are highly beneficial to a range of pollinators.

Caryopteris

Lilac Chaste Tree (Vitex)

If you are seeking drought tolerant plants that are easy care and you're especially tied to the blue color of many butterfly bushes, Bluebeard (Caryopteris) and Lilac Chaste Tree (Vitex) are pollinator magnets that perform in dry heat. While not native, and therefore not providing food for caterpillars, they are not invasive and therefore shouldn't push out native food sources. If you choose either of these, we recommend planting a variety of native food sources nearby to ensure caterpillars have needed support (such as the above native shrubs, native hibiscus, Pussy Willow, Joe-Pye, asters and goldenrod).

You can also attract and feed a multitude of butterflies by planting drifts of tall perennials such as Anise Hyssop (Agastache), Blazing Star (Liatris), various Joe-Pye Weed species (Eutrochium), and different milkweed species (Asclepias, etc). We specifically love the Anise Hyssop because of its gorgeous spike blooms similar to the Butterfly Bush and how full and large it grows during the season.