Buddleia davidii 'Dirr Pink' (butterfly bush)
The name butterfly bush describes the powerful lure that this bush has over butterflies, but it doesn't say it all. It simply doesn't describe the powerful lure it has over humans (it's so pretty!) nor the array of flower colors. In this case we have a magenta (dark pink) cone of flowers. It also doesn't inform you that it flowers on new growth for most of the growing season - summer into fall. This is a powerful bush.
Buddleia davidii Dirr Pink is growing in Mike Dirr's garden and he suggested we take cuttings of it because "it's a pretty one." Here you go. Where perfectly cold hardy, this is a large shrub, in colder regions of zone 6, treat it like a perennial and watch it grow 4-5' during the summer.
A gardening friend in Delaware (zone 7) sent us pictures of the Dirr Pink we mailed her to practice shipping techniques. We are *just a little* excited to see her pictures of the mail-order butterfly bush in flower, so we posted them here.
- heat resistant
- flowers for a long time: through summer into fall
- pollinator plant that's tall for the back of the border
- gray-green leaf color for design consideration
- pollinator plant
- cut flowers
- long flowering period
- flowers last from summer through fall
- Spring: gray-green
- Summer: gray-green, blue-green
Yes it's root hardy, but the branches may not be hardy. It will likely behave more like a perennial that dies to the ground and grows back 4-5' during the summer.
Is this a weed?
In some states, yes, but we haven't see it on the loose in the South.