Butterfly Bush

Buddleja davidii 'Nanho' · Scrophulariaceae

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Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii 'Nanho') — Photo: -- IKAl 15:22, 23 July 2007 (UTC) · CC BY-SA 2.5 · source

Type	shrub (shrub layer)
Mature size	6.0 ft tall × 5.0 ft wide
Sun	FS (full sun)
Water	L, M (low to moderate (drought tolerant once established))
Deer resistance	low-medium
Drought tolerance	high
Hardiness	5-9
Maintenance	low
Edible	no
Nitrogen fixing	no
Bloom	Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct
Harvest	—
Expected yield	0 lb/yr
Source	Estimated - confirm with a local nursery (not on the TreeYo list). Container-grown plants are the usual retail form; prices are a planning range only.

Type

shrub (shrub layer)

Mature size

6.0 ft tall × 5.0 ft wide

Sun

FS (full sun)

Water

L, M (low to moderate (drought tolerant once established))

Deer resistance

low-medium

Drought tolerance

high

Hardiness

5-9

Maintenance

low

Edible

Nitrogen fixing

Bloom

Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct

Harvest

—

Expected yield

0 lb/yr

Source

Estimated - confirm with a local nursery (not on the TreeYo list). Container-grown plants are the usual retail form; prices are a planning range only.

Planning price

$19.00 per plant estimated

planning estimate · Butterfly Bush

No local nursery line found for this plant; planning range only.

Design notes

Long-blooming pollinator magnet: covered in fragrant flower spikes from midsummer to first frost. Deer browse the soft new growth, so stake and protect (temporary fencing or wire cage) until the stems harden - it recovers from a browse but stays compact. 'Nanho' is a smaller, less seed-setting cultivar; deadhead spent spikes to avoid self-sowing. Prune hard in late winter to keep it compact and flowering well.

Historic uses

Buddleja has a long history of use in Chinese medicine (flower 'Mo Li Pi' for headache, sore throat and conjunctivitis) and in European herbal practice as a mild sedative expectorant; the species is grown chiefly as an ornamental pollinator plant here.

Scoring

Ornamental	9/10
Disease resistance	6/10
Sweetness of harvest	0/10
Complexity of care	5/10
Medicinal value	2/10

Ornamental

9/10

Disease resistance

6/10

Sweetness of harvest

0/10

Complexity of care

5/10

Medicinal value

2/10

Shared plant library

These records are stored once at /home/chris/.gardenway/plant-library.json and reused by every design and project on this machine, so the same species does not have to be researched again.

Deer resistance Drought tolerance Hardiness zones Disease (1-10) Ornamental (1-10) Sweetness (1-10) Complexity (1-10) Medicinal (1-10) Bloom months Harvest months Lb fruit / mature plant Maintenance Sun Water Historical medicinal uses Growing notes

Where this is used

Draft	Zone	Qty	Note
Draft 1 - Balanced Food Forest	D	1	Butterfly bush at the back of the border - extends the bloom season into frost alongside the asters and goldenrod. Low-medium deer resistance, so keep it inside the temporary fence (or a wire cage) until the stems harden, and plant it in the part of the bed the fence covers longest.

Draft

Zone

Qty

Note

Draft 1 - Balanced Food Forest

Butterfly bush at the back of the border - extends the bloom season into frost alongside the asters and goldenrod. Low-medium deer resistance, so keep it inside the temporary fence (or a wire cage) until the stems harden, and plant it in the part of the bed the fence covers longest.