Description
Buddleja/Buddleia interspecies hybrid | Butterfly Bush ‘Lochinch’ (B. davidii x B. fallowiana)
Butterfly Bush, also known as Summer Lilac, is a fast-growing, semi-evergreen shrub that has an upright, stretching habit.
These are open-pollinated seeds of the ‘Lochinch’ Buddleja cultivar, which is an inter-species butterfly bush hybrid that came from a seedling found in the garden of the Earl of Stair at Lochinch Castle, Wigtownshire, Scotland, in 1940. The shrub can grow to 5×5 feet in the first year and 6-10 ft on average at maturity, but can ultimately grow up to 17×17 feet if left unpruned! Mature Buddleja Lochinch plants are magnificent to see and stand apart from Buddeja davidii because the leaves are silver in color (from the fallowiana) and compliment the sweet, honey-scented periwinkle-blue flowers wonderfully. The stems are white and are covered with soft, fine white hairs.
The majority of plants grown from these seeds will resemble Lochinch in growth habit and appearance, with a slightly off-color flowered plant here and there. The blooms start in mid-summer and continue on into autumn. The highly aromatic honey-scented flowers are highly attractive to butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators.
Butterfly Bushes ability to grow on waste ground, demolition sites, railway-lines and even in the mortar of walls is remarkable. Native to China its natural habitat consists of forest clearings, riverbanks and limestone outcrops. For the healthiest growth it is recommended to soft-prune in late autumn and then hard prune down to your knees in April.
B. ‘Lochinch’ was given the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit in 1993, and was reaffirmed in 2010.
Type: Perennial
Sun exposure: Full sun
Mature height: 17 ft
Mature width- 17 ft
Hardiness zones: 6-9
