PLANT OF THE MONTH

Buddleia davidii: Butterfly-bush

JIM FUNAI, LIC Cuyahoga Community College SHELLEY FUNAI, LIC Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens

There are an awful lot of opinions out there surrounding this month’s plant. Opinions vary from “love, or hate” to “invasive, or essential ornamental.” Some states have banned the plant. Others have it listed on the official invasive database (Virginia, California, Delaware, Kentucky, Oregon, and Tennessee). It makes you wonder how a plant can be faced with such fervor to eradicate (in some states), yet breeders continue to crank out new varieties left and right. This month, we hope to clear up some of the myths surrounding Butterfly-Bush and shed some light on the value it may still have in our modern landscapes.

Let’s start with the name. You may have seen the name spelled as “Buddleja,” and in fact, many reputable sources, such as the Missouri Botanical Garden and the International Botanical Congress, list it as such. While there is a really interesting story behind this spelling tracing back to Linnaeus himself, after careful research, we are confident the correct spelling is sans “J.”

Dr. Dirr cites the namer of Buddleia as a French botanist named Adrien Franchet (born in 1834). Franchet though cannot be the person who named this plant, as we found record of the name dating back to 1737 (when Linnaeus was

24 | Official Publication of The Ohio Landscape Association 30) in his publication “Genera plantarum.” In this publication he gives credit to William Houstoun, who spelled it “Buddlea.”

Linnaeus changed it to Buddleia, publishing it this way in his annual update, from 1737 on. The typesetters that printed these books – trying to be fancy – used the “j” in place of “i” and “v” in the place of “u” in the main text, but never in the index. Each year, in the update of the book, the main text would show Buddleja and the index would indicate Buddleia. There are other plants that fell into this trap, but Buddleia is one of the few to still be fighting off the habit.

Regardless of spelling, it’s clear the genus is a nod to Reverend Adam Buddle (1660-1715), an English botanist. The specific epithet is a nod to Pere David (1826-1900), a French naturalist. Note: If by chance you enjoy these kinds of worm-hole ramblings about botanical history, one of our main research sources is the Biodiversity Heritage Library which has an insane amount of rare and historical texts searchable on all kinds of biology topics.

Now, let’s talk about how this plant causes confusion when it comes to its hardiness. Some of you may have had trouble getting Butterfly-Bush to survive the winter. And, many of you likely won’t plant them, or won’t offer a warranty, for that reason. Buddleia is actually incredibly hardy and a nearly indestructible plant. The downfall that most face in Ohio are heavy, wet clays. The plant prefers the gravelly side of a mountain or the crack of a sidewalk compared to wet, heavy soils. Many die in winter from rotting in the root system or suffocation in the roots.

Planted in full sun in well drained soils, these plants will survive any winter thrown at them. In the worst of winters they’ll die back, perhaps to the crown, but will jump back up in the spring. Typically we prefer to prune ours to about 12 inches or so in the fall to early spring, while thinning the branching a bit. These plants are rather deer-resistant and can handle some occasional munching without a negative impact. continued on page 26

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continued from page 25

When under heavy drought stress, you may have a crop of spider mites show up, but under normal growing conditions a happy plant can fend for itself quite well.

Some garden advisors will tell you to remove the spent flowers in effort to maintain proper blooming. We’ve never found that to be the case, having no issues with several months of continuous blooms on our plants. We’ve also heard tell of the plant actually being bad for butterflies, though when pushed, it seems there is a misunderstanding concerning butterfly life cycles. The flowers do provide a great nectar source for both butterflies and moths (especially the hawk or hummingbird moths, so cool!) in the adult form. They are not a food source for caterpillars, which is OK, as long as you provide other plants to serve this purpose.

In recent years, the brand with white pots has taken this species under their marketing powerhouse and produced some interesting cultivars, as have a number of other plant factories. It would be silly to start naming cultivars, as even the most recent rendition of the Dirr manual dedicates over eight full pages of text to the hundreds of cultivars out there. Our best suggestion is consult the cultivar description for ultimate size, shape, and

26 | Official Publication of The Ohio Landscape Association flower color. Expect plants in a range of below 18 inches to over 8 feet tall. Some can be little, ground-hugging, mini-shrubs and others can be giant, vase-shaped, shrubs. Colors tend to be in the pastel pinks, purples, lavenders with more bold yellows, reds, and deep purples, or even pure whites.

This is a versatile shrub that we find pretty valuable in an urban landscape that will have to become adaptable to the changing climactic conditions it will face in the decades to come. Will the plant reseed? Sure, likely some. But not any worse than the Red Maples we’ve been planting all over the place! Times are changing and our understanding of the urban ecosystem needs to change as well.

Jim Funai, PhD. is full-time faculty at Cuyahoga Community College, a NALP accredited associate of applied science in hoticulture degree program. He has a PhD in Landscape Engineering and Forestry and is a Licensed Arborist. Shelley Funai is Grounds Manager at Stan Hywett Hall and Gardens in Akron, Ohio, which offers a historic estate designed by Warren H. Manning and a beautiful manor house museum. She is Landscape Industry Certified in Ornamental Plant Care.

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