Royal Red Butterfly Bush

Butterfly Bush

Buddleia davidii ‘Royal Red’

(BUD-lee-uh) (duh-VID-ee-eye)

Synonyms: Buddleja davidii, Orange-eye Butterfly Bush

I am not sure why this is called ‘Royal Red’ because it is more purple then anything else. So far the Butterfly Bushes have been doing well this season and living up to their reliable reputation. While pruning some nearby Japanese Hollies this specimen was overwhelming me with its fragrance. There didn’t appear to be too many butterflies hovering around it and in general our butterfly population seems a little low this year.

We had a dwarf Butterfly Bush that I pulled out of someone’s house and it was left down by the garage and the other morning I noticed a couple of butterflies feeding on it. I was able to catch and release one.

It is easy to tell it's a new month as new folders have to be made to store this blogs files. Happy July!

WHite Butterfly Bush

Butterfly Bush
Buddleia davidii
(BUD-lee-uh) (duh-VID-ee-eye)
Synonyms: Buddleja davidii, Summer Lilac, Orange-eye Butterfly Bush

This is another photo from my prowling around the farm on Saturday. Buddleia has always been a favorite shrub of mine. It produces so any sweet smelling flowers during the summer and fall. I deadhead ours but it is really not necessary and can be a big job. It does seem to extend the flowering so it makes it worthwhile. This year our Buddleias seemed to have grown more enormous then ever. We usually cut them back severely in the spring but must have missed it this year. This white flowered one, which is a little more rare, was about 8 feet tall with an equal spread.

Buddleia is a wonderful shrub to have if you have children. They really do attract butterflies but also bees. The other day at work (sans camera) I was getting the butterflies to walk on my hands as they flitted amongst the flowers. My co-workers were laughing at me but bit a little jealous at the same time.

Miss Ruby Compact Butterfly Bush

Compact Butterfly Bush
Buddleja 'Miss Ruby'
(BUD-lee-uh)

This is another new (2007) Butterfly Bush with a compact habit. It doesn’t seem as dwarf as ‘Lo & Behold’ but it is a lot smaller then the species. Two things I found remarkable about ‘Miss Ruby’ were the flower color and the silvery foliage. The bright color of the flowers is nicely set off by the foliage. This plant was developed by Dr. Dennis Werner of the J.C. Raulston Arboretum in North Carolina.

‘Miss Ruby’ was certainly doing its job as it was covered in Butterflies. Our population of Butterflies seems really high this year much to the delight of my coworkers. They really get a chuckle out of seeing me trying to photograph them skipping from flower to flower.

See more flowers from all over the world at Today’s Flowers .

Since its Flowers from Today here is a bonus flower.


Exotic Impatiens
Impatiens hybrida ‘Fusion Infrared Apricot’
(im-PAY-shuns)

It seems really hard to get the Exotic Impatiens but they are well worth having. These flowers really glow in the shade. I wish the plants were more floriferous but they have been holding up well in the heat.

Dwarf Butterfly Bush

Dwarf Butterfly Bush
Buddleja davidii 'Blue Chip'
(BUD-lee-uh) (duh-VID-ee-eye)
Synonyms: ‘Lo & Behold’

This is great new plant. It solves the problem of having Buddleja in the border without it growing enormously. This is the second year I have seen it but the first that we have actually planted it. Both of our plantings have formed a little carpet of color in an area that was previously carpeted by Juniper. In both cases it has been a 100% improvement. ‘Blue Chip’ is also on the list to replace some regular Butterfly Bush that has completely over grown its spot in a small border. Even after I was ready for it and cut the plants down to about 18 inches tall in the beginning of the season this just seem to encourage them to grow taller. You may have trouble finding the 'Blue Chip' variety, we were lucky and local nursery had 10 of them this spring (I bought them all). As a new introduction (2007) I am going to give this plant an A+ and five stars.

See more flowers from all over the world at Today’s Flowers .

Since it is Sunday here is the bonus flower. It is Variegated Canna Lily that has ben growing in a container with the dark red leaf/flowered ‘Australia’.


Canna Lily
Canna x generalis 'Striped Beauty'
(KAN-uh)
Synonyms: Bangkok, Christ's Light, Minerva

I would describe ‘Striped Beauty’ as a semi-tall Canna. It is nicely proportioned and a good bloomer. I had given up on growing Cannas a while back because of the virus but couldn’t resist their bold foliage and flower colors. So far, with fingers crossed on virus this season.