Description
Buddleja asiatica | Asiatica Butterfly Bush
Asian Butterfly Bush, also known as Dogtail and Winter-Flowering Lilac, is a fast-growing flowering shrub native to eastern Asia and was introduced to Hawaii prior to 1908 where it has become widespread and locally abundant on all the main islands. It’s a versatile plant, occurring in tropical to subtropical areas in disturbed habitats, such as wet pastures, on lava and cinder, wet forests, roadsides and waste areas at altitudes ranging from sea-level to 6000 ft. Like most Buddlejas, the Asian Butterfly Bush is drought tolerant, although it would prefer wet sites since it’s a facultative wetland plant.
The stems are white tomentose with long internodes and soft, velvety, green leaves that often droop. The highly-aromatic, white, slender flower-spires bloom in late winter and early spring when the plant may not have any leaves left. Unlike the more common B. Davidii that blooms on new growth, B. asiatica blooms on year old wood, so if you’re going to prune, prune in late spring after the flowers are done blooming. The branches left will have to make it through winter to bloom next year. In late winter, when the flowers start to bloom it is a welcome sight after months without much beauty. While Buddleja davidii has a pleasant, sweet honey aroma, the Asian Butterfly Bush’s scent is even sweeter and more pronounced. The beautiful freesia-type perfume carries on the breeze, so plant it near walkways, entrances, and gathering areas.
Since its not fully hardy in some temperate regions, it can be grown in a greenhouse, conservatory, or against a warm, south-facing wall where it can be protected. When temps dip below 25 F the plant may start to die back to the roots, but will make a strong come back in the spring. Root-hardy to around 20 F.
We are one of the only online retailers in the United States to offer this species.
Type: Perennial
Sun Exposure: Full sun
Mature height: 10-15 ft
Mature width: 6-8 ft
Hardiness zones: 9-11
UNROOTED CUTTINGS:
- Price is for three cuttings (3)
- Each cutting is 4-9 inches long. May be single top or multi-top.
- Guaranteed to be green, healthy, and alive. Plus pest and pathogen free.
- Guaranteed to be true-to-name.
- Please only order unrooted cuttings if you are familiar and comfortable with rooting plants
- Plant orders shipped out on Monday and Tuesday ONLY.
- If it’s believed the plants are not alive and healthy when you receive them you must let us know any concerns you have within 24 hours of arrival. If we do not hear any concerns within 24 hours it will be assumed that everything arrived in good standing. We cannot be held responsible for mishaps, errors, mistakes, or bad luck after this time frame.
ROOTING INSTRUCTIONS:
How to prepare cuttings to root via rooting cubes inside a humidity dome.
- Upon arrival, give cuttings a new fresh cut on the bottom of the stem. Then set in a cup of water for a minimum of 15 minutes.
- After soaking, gently cut or scrape small marks into the bottom portion of the plant stem (½ inch) with scissors or a razor blade.
- Dip the scarred end of the stem into rooting gel or rooting powder (gel is superior). This can be done without rooting gel, but results are not as good.
- Insert the plant stem into a rooting cube (Oasis cubes, grow plugs, soil-cubes, rock-wool cubes, etc) and place into a nursery tray with a humidity dome over the top. One cutting per cube. Custom individual humidity domes can be made using plastic cups and/or plastic cling wrap.
- After the first 3-5 days, the humidity dome should be opened up or set ajar to slowly allow more air in as the plants start to root. At this point, the cubes should be allowed to become mostly dry before adding any more water.
- Once 2-3 roots grow out of the bottom of the root-cube, the plant can be transplanted into soil.
- More detailed rooting instructions will accompany your order.
We ship plants orders out on Mondays and Tuesdays only.
*Please note: We cannot ship Buddelja asiatica to Hawaii at this time. Checkout is disabled for this product in this state.
