Valuable nectar support, this long-lived cultivar of a native North American native plant has exceptional versatility and adaptability, bold texture, and color! Attractive Butterfly Bush Honeysuckle (Diervilla sessilifolia ‘Butterfly’) works hard in your landscape. From the first days of spring to the long days of winter, it offers many ornamental qualities. But its true value comes from the nectar-rich flowers for Butterflies, bees, and beneficial pollinators other and the dense shelter it provides for songbirds.
Dark green foliage features prominent veining from a midrib. Each textured leaf is rimmed in coppery bronze for additional visual interest. In contrast, the yellow flowers are tiny but still manage to make an impact. Held in clustered panicles, the bright yellow hue and trumpet shape are irresistible to Hummingbirds too! They’ll rebloom in flushes through the summer, although the main flower display is in early summer.
Very cold-hardy shrubs, Butterfly Dwarf Bush Honeysuckle thrive in USDA growing zones 4 to 8 where it grows 3-4 feet in height and width to create a wonderfully rounded shrub! This multi-stemmed deciduous shrub fills in thick and luxuriant all the way down to the ground. As the season wears on and nighttime temperatures fall, the foliage can take on a purplish hue. Even after the leaves fall, the reddish branches make a pretty display against the white layer of snow.
Planting and Application:
Butterfly Bush Honeysuckle has a marvelously informal look that works well in contemporary and Cottage Gardens. Do the same thing for your annual Victory Garden! A long hedge of Butterfly Bush Honeysuckle will look great and entice pollinators near your flowering veggie patch.
For en masse applications of these Space them three feet apart for a quick fill. Stagger extra rows behind them to enliven a wide, open area without fear under power lines. Butterfly will hold the soil for you, and require very little care. You’ll feel great about adding this waterwise wildlife shrub that looks great in the Rock garden.
Butterfly Bush Honeysuckle makes a wonderful addition to a Backyard Wildlife Habitat. Add them to the north side of a planned Butterfly Garden to create a defined boundary. This designer trick pulls together the look of a happy humble jumble, just like you “meant to do that”!
We always recommend that you make your plant selections to suit the environmental conditions you face on your own property. Have tough soil on a slope? Honeysuckle shrubs are fantastic erosion control and soil stabilizing abilities. It’s rugged and easy care, tolerating compacted soils of new construction zones and urban environments.
Give Butterfly room to spread and you’ll appreciate it every season. This improved cultivar of a native hedging plant to work this season. Bring structure to your space with hedges, and you’ll gain the added benefit of privacy screening. Space them three feet apart for a quick fill. Stagger extra rows behind them to enliven a wide, open area without fear under power lines.
- Dramatic Purple-Red Foliage & Stems
- Upright Shrub Form Covered in Vivid Yellow Blooms
- Butterflies & Beneficial Pollinators Galore!
- Cold Hardy Native Cultivar – Well-Behaved & Not Invasive
- Great Soil Stabilizer for Slopes & Embankments
- Dramatic Specimen, Create Fantastic Focal Points, Hedges & Backdrops
Tips for Care:
Bush Honeysuckles loves full sun or partial shade. It needs to receive at least four hours of sunlight a day, or it will get leggy. Cold-hardy native cultivars thrive in well-drained soil types is a must, as Butterfly Diervilla sessifolia won’t tolerate standing water. If you have Clay soil that stays damp, increases the drainage by bringing in additional soil in a mound for planting. Low moisture requirements and adaptability mean these are easy-care and low-maintenance shrubs.
For the first season, pay close attention to watering to get their roots established in the soil. After that, you’ll be delighted by their resistance to periodic drought. Add a 3-4 inch layer of arborist mulch. Prune in late winter to shape your shrubs by eliminating crossing branches. Take out a few of the thickest branches out at ground level, and remove basal suckers as desired.
- Grows Well in Full Sun or Part Shade
- Wide Range of Well-Drained Soil Types
- Regular Moderate Moisture Needs
- Prune If Needed – Late Winter or Early Spring
- Deer Tend to Leave it Alone
- Easy Care & Low Maintenance
Survey your healthy, happy backyard ecology with pride! The pollinator-friendly and cultivated native Butterfly Bush Honeysuckle shrubs are an extraordinary choice!
