Overview
Uses: Pollinator gardens, front of the border, outdoor containers, and low mass plantings.
Benefits: A dwarf butterfly bush with full-size, fragrant flower spikes in blended shades of soft purple and white. Blooms from summer into fall on a tidy, rounded plant, and is a seedless selection.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5–9
Sun: Full Sun
Life Cycle: Deciduous Shrub
Growth Habit: Mounding, Rounded — dwarf and sturdy.
Bloom Color: Soft Purple and White
Foliage Color: Green
Mature Height: 2–3 feet
Mature Width: 2–3 feet
Bloom Season: Summer to fall
Growth Rate: Moderate
Summary
Full-size butterfly bush flowers on a plant small enough for a patio pot.
Classic butterfly bushes are big, rangy shrubs that can top six feet by midsummer. Pugster Sorbet® packs the same full-size flower spikes onto a dwarf, rounded plant about two to three feet tall and wide, with sturdy stems that hold the blooms upright.
The flowers are a soft blend of purple and white on each spike, a cool, sherbet-like mix that reads gently in a bed and pairs well with silver foliage, pinks, and blues. They carry the sweet fragrance butterfly bushes are known for and open from summer into fall.
That small size puts the flowers, and the butterflies and bees that visit them, right at eye level. Use it at the front of a sunny border, in groups along a walk, or in a container on the patio. It is a seedless selection, so it is not expected to scatter seedlings through nearby beds the way older butterfly bushes can.
Care
Pugster Sorbet® Butterfly Bush Care
Plant in full sun, with at least six hours of direct light a day. In shade, flowering drops off and stems stretch.
Butterfly bush needs well-drained soil. It grows well in average, sandy, or rocky ground but struggles in heavy soil that stays wet, especially through winter.
Water deeply once or twice a week through the first growing season while roots establish. Established plants handle heat and dry spells well and need water only during long droughts.
Feeding needs are light. One application of a slow release fertilizer in spring is plenty; heavier feeding produces more leaves at the expense of flowers.
Butterfly bush blooms on new wood. Leave the stems standing through winter, then wait until new growth appears in spring and cut the stems back to just above the lowest set of new shoots. Snipping off faded spikes in summer keeps new flowers coming.
Growing in Containers
Its dwarf size makes it a natural fit for a patio container. Use a pot with open drainage holes and a quality potting mix. Container plants dry out faster than plants in the ground, so check moisture often in hot weather, and feed lightly in spring and again in early summer, since frequent watering washes nutrients out of the mix. Roots in containers experience greater cold exposure than roots in the ground. Plants hardy in the ground may require winter protection when grown in containers in colder zones.
Size
What Size is the Pugster Sorbet® Butterfly Bush for Sale Online?
Our Pugster Sorbet® Butterfly Bush ships in a greenhouse-grade grow pot and is appropriately sized for its container at the time of shipment. Plants ship dormant or near dormant in the off-season, so they may arrive with few or no leaves. If you have specific sizing or planting questions, please contact us.
How Large Does Pugster Sorbet® Butterfly Bush Grow?
Expect about 2 to 3 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide at maturity, in a rounded, mounding shape. Space plants about 2 to 3 feet apart for a low mass planting.
Additional Information
What is the botanical name of Pugster Sorbet® Butterfly Bush?
The botanical name is Buddleia Pugster Sorbet®. It is a Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Flowering Shrub in the Pugster® series of dwarf butterfly bushes.
What are some common names for this plant?
It is most often called butterfly bush, and is also known as summer lilac.
Does it help butterflies?
The flowers are a rich nectar source, and adult butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds visit them from summer into fall. Butterfly bush is not a food plant for caterpillars, so if you want butterflies to breed in your garden, pair it with host plants such as milkweed and native asters. For more varieties, see our Butterfly Bushes.
Why hasn't it leafed out in spring?
Butterfly bush is one of the last shrubs to break dormancy, and in colder zones new growth may not show until late spring. Scratch a stem near the base: green tissue underneath means the plant is alive. Wait until new shoots appear before cutting back.
Is it deer resistant?
Deer generally avoid butterfly bush, so it is a good choice for sunny beds where deer browse. No plant is completely deer-proof, and young growth may still be sampled when other food is scarce. See more Deer-Resistant Shrubs and Evergreens.
