Blue Chip Butterfly Bush Buddleja Lo & Behold® 'Blue Chip Jr.’ PP #19991

Few deciduous plants are as colorful in the summer garden as the butterfly bush, which is typically a 6- to 8-foot shrub. Buddleja is a genus of about 100 species of mainly shrubs but also some trees and climbers.  Thanks to the plant breeding efforts of Dr. Dennis Werner at NC State University, a hardy miniature Buddleja called ‘Lo & Behold Blue Chip’ is available for Carolina gardens.

‘Blue Chip’ has a symmetrical, compact, and spreading habit with violet-blue flowers. The blossoms are fragrant and possess malformed anthers that produce little to no pollen. Due to the tiny number of seed heads formed, ‘Blue Chip’ flowers prolifically bloom throughout the summer and fall, with no need to deadhead spent blooms, providing beautiful color when few other shrubs are in bloom (Though deadheading is not necessary, removal of spent flower spikes during the growing season may encourage additional bloom). Even if plants do not die to the ground in winter, they will grow more vigorously, produce more and larger flowers, and maintain a more attractive overall shape if cut close to the ground in late winter each year.

Butterfly bushes require full sun and decent soil drainage (they do well in well-drained soils but tolerate clay soils). Because of the low spreading habit (2 to 3 feet in height) of ‘Lo & Behold Blue Chip,’ it is perfect for use in the front of landscape beds or in mass plantings. As with most Buddlejas, ‘Blue Chip’ will attract butterflies and other pollinators in abundance. It is deer resistant, drought-tolerant, and compact enough to grow in containers on your sunny patio. Plant in borders, cottage gardens, rose gardens, or pollinator gardens.

Insects, Diseases and Other Problems: This plant suffers from no serious insect or disease problems. Nematodes can be problematic. This cultivar is not considered to be invasive in the landscape (no suckers and few seeds).