Buddleja Davidii Berries and Cream Butterfly Bush

Buddleja Davidii Berries and Cream (Butterfly Bush) is a deciduous woody shrub with variegated blooms in rich purple and creamy white. It suits the back of a mixed flower border, front gardens, and is suitable for large plant containers.

Buddleja Davidii is native to China. It was discovered by Europeans in the 1800s and named for the botanist Reverend Adam Buddle. The Davidii species was discovered by French missionary Father Armand David and was first commercially available in Europe in the 1890s. It became popular for its hardy nature and long-lasting blooms.

The cultivar Berries and Cream is an unusually coloured buddleja bred by Peter More. It has variegated scented blooms that range from rich deep purple to creamy-white on one flowerhead hence the name Berries and Cream. Each cone-shaped flower head is made from hundreds of tiny blooms and measures up to 20 cm long. Bees and butterflies love buddleja, so this is a good pollinator-friendly choice. Butterfly Bush Berries and Cream is a deciduous woody shrub, so it will lose all of its grey-green pointed leaves in autumn and regrow them on its strong framework of arching branches the following spring.

Buddleja is a tough and beautiful shrub that requires very little effort in return for summer-long stunning flowers. Every garden should have a buddleja.

Height and Spread of Buddleja Davidii Berries and Cream
Butterfly Bush Berries and Cream will reach a height of 2.5 metres and spread over 1.5 metres.

How Hardy Is Buddleja Davidii Berries and Cream
This is a hardy shrub in the UK. It withstands drought once established and our frosty wet winters if its roots are well-drained. Buddleja is rarely affected by pests and copes well with pollution and exposed sites.

How To Use Buddleja Davidii Berries and Cream
Plant Butterfly Bush Berries and Cream in a mixed flower border for colourful height and structure in country cottage style gardens and modern urban spaces. It requires very little maintenance so it suits busy gardeners, especially those with a love of butterflies. Berries and Cream holds the RHS Perfect for Pollinators badge because it’s such a pollinator magnet.

You can grow this shrub in a well-watered and fed container to brighten up a sunny patio, deck or balcony garden or in a pollution-prone front garden. Its hardy nature also makes it suitable for breezy coastal gardens.

How To Care For Buddleja Davidii Berries and Cream
Butterfly Bush Berries and Cream is easy to grow on most soils and requires very little care.
It prefers well-drained soil in a sunny to a partially sunny spot. Buddleja grown in shade can become leggy and flower poorly, so plenty of sunshine is important. Buddleja is happy on chalk and other poorer soil if it’s sunny there.
Remove its browning spent flower heads to encourage more blooms throughout summer and cut it back hard in March. It will rapidly regrow in spring.
Apply a thick layer of well-rotted organic mulch to the base in early spring to trap moisture and provide food for the growing season.