Description
Buddleja/Buddleia interspecies hybrid (B. davidii x B. alternifolia) x B. davidii) | Butterfly Bush ‘Sky Blue’
Butterfly Bushes are also known as Summer Lilacs. They are fast-growing, semi-evergreen shrubs that have an upright, stretching habit. Their 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.
These are open-pollinated seeds from the ‘Sky Blue’ Buddleja cultivar, which is an inter-species hybrid that was introduced in Suffolk England in 2009. ‘Sky Blue’ plants are compact in stature, the flowers are a true violet-blue/sky blue color, and is one of the most floriferous Buddlejas in our garden. The plants that grow from these seeds will be variable in color and size, but many resemble that of the parent plant with weeping branches and pendulous flowers. Germination tests have confirmed these seeds viability.
For the healthiest growth it is recommended to soft-prune in late autumn and then hard-prune down to your knees in April. Mature ‘Sky Blue’ plants will top out around 5 ft in height. The blooms start in summer and continue on into autumn if spent flowers are dead-headed. The highly aromatic, honey-scented, nectar-rich flowers are highly attractive to humans, butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators.
Type: Perennial
Sun exposure: Full sun
Mature height: 5 ft
Mature width: 3 ft
Zones: 5-10
