If you like the color purple, you will love having a Black Knight butterfly bush in your backyard. Prefer another color? With more than 140 species of butterfly bushes in the Buddleia genus, there is probably one for you. This fragrant shrub is one of the easiest plants to cultivate and one of the fastest to grow. It just needs well-drained soil, partial sun and weekly watering (or more during heatwaves). The Black Knight butterfly bush is particularly popular because of its beautiful contrast of dark purple flowers and dark green foliage.
Did You Know?
As their name implies, butterfly bushes are butterfly magnets, thanks to their nectar-filled blossoms. They can also attract hummingbirds and bees.
Other Fun Facts About Butterfly Bush
- A butterfly bush can quickly grow as tall as 8 feet.
- Butterfly bushes have a long and worldly history spanning China, Chile, Africa, England, and a 17th century amateur botanist named Reverend Adam Buddle, for whom the plant was once unfortunately named, “Globose Buddlebush.”
- There are dozens of different butterfly species known to be attracted to butterfly bushes.
- Some varieties of the butterfly bush are also known as summer lilac.
