Buddleja, Butterfly Bush, Summer Lilac 'Peach Cobbler'

Buddleia Peach Cobbler is extremely vigorous in my Maritime Pacific NW Zone 8a garden. In 4 years, the bushes grew to about 12 feet tall...Read More, maybe more. The flowers remain on the stems after they turn brown, which is unsightly. They are too tall to readily deadhead. Butterflies like them, but honeybess do not. This year I cut them back to about 18 inches tall. Within one season they grew back to the over 12 foot tall range again. They do make an effective privacy hedge or windbreak, due to the busy large shape. Still, they are not attractive bushes. I would go with a smaller variety, if I had to do it again. The best thing, deer don't touch them. In a garden which is highly impacted by deer, that is an advantage. However, our deer also don't touch the more compact varieties, such as Miss Ruby, either.

Folks might be confused that the color peach refers to the bright orange unusually large centers of the individual flowers while the peta...Read Morels themselves are pink. This doesn't really bother me because 90% of flowers labeled "blue" are actually shades of purple. Looks great in combination with another butterfly bush with darker flowers, combined with a very dark almost black purple one like I've done makes both plants stand out spectacularly. A very tough compact plant, mine always produces numerous flowerheads tightly packed together instead of the long branched sparsely flowered varieties you often see. It ranks as a superior butterfly bush for this reason along with the very bright attractive pleasant scented flowers.

This species isn't long-lived (usually under 10 years). Hard pruning (to 6") annually in early spring helps it renew itself and improves ...Read Morebloom.

All B. davdii cultivars require weekly deadheading for them to look and bloom its best.

Butterfly bushes may be good nectar sources for adult butterflies, but they are not food sources for the caterpillars of any Lepidoptera native to the continental US.

In some places, B. davidii can be an invasive weed: England, France, New Zealand, and the states of Oregon and Washington. It has naturalized in eastern N. America but is not considered invasive there. Recent cultivars are usually selected for dramatically reduced fertility.This species has naturalized along the west coast of N. America from BC to Califolia, and also in 17 eastern states.

Disappointing color. The color peach is hinted at but never realized.