Buddleja

Few shrubs announce summer quite like Buddleja. Known as the butterfly bush, it produces generous cones or clusters of small, often fragrant flowers that can draw butterflies, bees and other pollinators in remarkable numbers. Purple and lilac remain the classic colours, but varieties also range through blue, pink, white and deeper magenta tones, allowing Buddleja to sit comfortably in both softer and more vibrant planting schemes.

The familiar larger forms are excellent for adding height towards the back of a mixed border, while newer compact Buddleja plants make this much-loved shrub accessible to smaller gardens and containers too. Most prefer a sunny, well-drained position and respond well to pruning, producing fresh flowering growth each season. Their slightly informal habit works particularly well with grasses and herbaceous perennials, where the arching flowerheads soften more rigid shapes around them.

Supplied as bare-root Buddleja, these shrubs can establish into generous plants with a strong presence and a long summer flowering season. In UK gardens, butterfly bushes are especially valuable where wildlife is part of the planting plan, but their appeal goes well beyond that: fragrance, movement, colour and an easy natural shape give them the ability to make a border feel alive.