One of my favorite plants in the garden is the Buddleja davidii or Butterfly Bush and the name says it all - it attracts the butterflies! This plant's flower spikes comes in white, light purple, dark purple, pink or yellow. I have planted assorted colors and my favorite is the white. My white buddleja self seeds itself, giving me new plants for the garden or to give to friends. I like to plant them near my herb garden. Between the butterfly bushes and the herbs, I have lots of beautiful butterflies during the growing season. Some of the herbs, such a my bronze fennel, dill and parsley become the larval food to the Swallowtail butterflies.
Buddlejas requires a hard pruning in March. You need to cut back to within 2 inches of the old wood. The leaves are a gray green color and the plant can grow to about 7-8 feet tall during the growing season. If you do not have room in your garden try some of the new dwarf varieties. Dwarf buddlejas can be grown in containers. Buddleja davidii is native to central and western China.
Often spelt Buddleia (After seventeeth-century English botanist Adam Buddle) Buddleja is now the correct form.
The Creative Gardener