As we inch towards the onset of summer, with the solstice on the horizon, June is another month full of garden temptations and color for our landscapes. It is also pollinator month, and I urge everyone to do all that they can for our local pollinating friends. We all need to welcome pollinators into our gardens and celebrate the wonderful biodiversity that they help us achieve. Remember that without these creatures, we simply would not have much food to eat or many flowers to enjoy. By planting for diversity, incorporating some natives, and utilizing natural products (avoiding any chemicals) in the garden, you are on your way to helping our native pollinators thrive. Anyone, and everyone, can help make this happen!
The list of beneficial plants for pollinators is quite long and varied, and certainly a mix of species and cultivars will provide the ideal variety needed for attracting them into your garden. One old-school plant that has been bred into new-school versions is the Butterfly Bush (Buddleia sp.), a wonderfully fragrant and floriferous deciduous shrub for hot, sunny and well-drained garden locations. Some now call these “Summer Lilac”, but I am going to stick with Butterfly Bush since they have nothing to do with lilacs whatsoever. Older varieties are banned from Washington (and many other states for that matter) as they produce copious amounts of seed, becoming invasive and choking out native vegetation. I have witnessed this first hand over the years on one of my favorite hikes at the Baker River. On one riverbank are homes with older Buddleia in their landscapes and they have seeded everywhere over the years, choking out all of the natives, colonizing the river banks and sand bars - a huge issue for our local ecosystem. So what do breeders do? They make them sterile, eliminating this one deleterious aspect of an otherwise worthy plant. Now modern flavors of Buddleia offer the stunning flowers gardeners want on tidier, more compact plants that are non-invasive.
Before I go into some good choices to seek out, I think some tips on how to grow these garden beauties is pertinent. Butterfly Bushes are very resistant to both browsing deer and pesky rabbits. Personally I would call these a woody perennial, as some can reach 4 to 6-feet tall each season, but the vast majority are in the 2 to 3-feet tall range. They are deciduous and, in all honesty, leaf out very late – sometimes not until well into May or even early June. Give them the hottest spot in the yard with optimum drainage and be patient each spring. Once you see leaf buds emerging in springtime, you can cut them back and feed them. A simple organic rose and flower type food is ideal in April, and maybe once more in early July. Resist the temptation to prune these back in the fall or winter, or you will be asking for winter damage (especially with our wet weather). Simply deadhead them here and there over the summer, and then one last time in fall before allowing them to go dormant and naturally return the following spring.
When planting one, keep them high and dry and avoid excessive mulch. This is an example of a plant that I would not add huge amounts of compost into the hole, just stick with the native soil - even if it is a bit heavy with clay. Leaving them planted higher will help immensely and allow you to still mulch a bit under them without crowding the crown. Plants that are buried in mulch or planted too deep will decline and may not come back after our wet winter weather. Avoid planting these late in the season (especially fall), and instead get them going now to establish healthy root systems for best results. They are definitely drought tolerant once established, and even when young they don’t need lots of water, so keep them on the dry side even in the summer heat. If yours is too wet, it will lack flowers, have weak stems, and often exhibit dieback of foliage. Butterfly Bushes, especially some of the dwarfs mentioned below, can also be grown nicely in containers in full sun using a well-drained organic potting soil. Here are some great varieties to consider…
The ‘Miss’ Series: Proven Winners has introduced ‘Miss Ruby’ (ruby red), ‘Miss Molly’ (deep pink) and ‘Miss Violet’ (purple), all taller shrubs growing into 4 to 6-foot tall specimens. These sport vibrant color from summer until frost and will mature into stately garden gems in sunny locales. Remember that you can always keep them shorter by pruning them hard (as described above) in spring.
The ‘Low and Behold' Series: Proven Winners offers some excellent mounding options as well, maturing into lovely 2 to 3-foot tall plants that are perfect for sunny borders mixed with perennials. ‘Purple Haze’ (purple), ‘Pink Micro Chip’ (pink) and ‘Blue Chip Junior’ (medium blue) are a few worthy of consideration. These are naturally low and add a lovely presence to the garden while blooming all summer long.
‘Asian Moon’: This wonderful selection is sterile and quite striking with good purple color and orange eyes on each individual floret. These will grow more shrub-like, up to about 6-feet tall or so, maturing into an outstanding pollinator garden magnet.
‘Birthday Cake’: Another great selection from Bloomin’ Easy Plants sporting lovely rich purple flowers that stand up like candles and grows to about 5 feet tall. If you are more of pie person and not so much cake, ‘Blueberry Pie’ is coming soon this summer as well. These are little shorter to 3 feet tall and striking violet blue flowers with white eyes in each floret.
One last topic on these garden beauties is nectar. They provide some of the sweetest around to butterflies (and hummingbirds too), but think of this relationship as what sugary soda is to humans.… They need much more than just nectar. Having a balanced garden, with a number of other great perennials and shrubs, will offer the variety of nutrients that they require. Having natives nearby will offer their larvae host plants to feed on and then pupate into actual butterflies. I will also mention that we really do not have Monarch Butterflies in Western Washington. Typically folks that think they see them are actually gazing upon others like the Tiger Swallowtail, Red Admiral, or Painted Lady – a few lovely examples of the hundreds of species of these wondrous insects that call our habitats home.
This June take a moment to pause and appreciate the wonderful gifts our pollinating friends give us each and every season. Plants like Butterfly Bushes are not only showy landscape specimens, but also do a wonderful job attracting pollinators of all kinds into our gardens. When you combine their long blooming season, variable colors and alluring fragrance, Butterfly Bushes are ideal landscape additions. Gaze upon you garden and find some spots for these gems, then stop into your local garden center to speak with a Certified Professional Horticulturist for help in selecting the right ones for you. Show them a little love, do some deadheading here and there, and they are sure to provide you and your pollinator friends with a summer-long flower fiesta.
