Black Knight Butterfly Bush

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SKU
AM013970
'Black Knight' Butterfly Bush’s deep purple blooms create a stunning contrast to its dark green foliage. Intensely fragrant and attractive to pollinators, 'Black Knight' is perfect for planting outside a window for a delightful show of butterflies and hummingbirds. Easy to grow, deer-resistant, and useful when planted as a hedge or privacy screen. (Buddleia davidii)
Zones 5 - 9
Advantages
attract-butterflies
Attract Butterflies
attract-hummingbirds
Attract Hummingbirds
deer-resistant
Deer Resistant
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Extended Bloom Time (more than 4 weeks)
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Good For Hedge / Screen
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Easy To Grow
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Good For Cut Flowers
fragrant
Fragrant Flower / Foliage
rabbit-resistan
Rabbit Resistant
Light Requirements
full-sun
Full Sun
Mature Height 48-96" tall (4-8 feet) , 36-60" wide (3-5 feet)
Bloom TimeEarly to late summer
Item Package SizePlant - 3" Pot
SKUAM013970

USDA Hardiness Planting Zones

To determine if a plant is sufficiently cold hardy, the USDA created numbered zones indicating winter low temperatures; the lower the zone number the colder the winter.

  • If the coldest winter temperature expected in your area is -15°F (zone 5) then any plants rated zones 3-5 will survive the winter temperatures in your area.
  • If you live in very warm winter areas (zones 9-11) plants with zones 3-4 ratings are not recommended. The lack of freezing winter temperatures do not provide a time for winter dormancy (rest).

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Plant Information

Many gardeners plant several butterfly bushes together, so they grow into a shrub-like clump with blooms in all the colors--purple, pink and white.

Butterfly Bush is a shrub-like plant that looks sort of like a compact lilac, grows quickly and blooms in mid-summer. But the name tells you all about it: Butterflies just can’t resist the flowers, and flock to the plants when they're in bloom.

The Magic: How the Butterfly Bush works: Buddleia or Butterfly Bush has been a sensation in American gardens for years, and no wonder. This plant is easy to grow, blooms profusely, and has that magical quality: Butterflies can’t resist it.

Here's why: It’s not just the pretty flowers that attract the butterflies, like any bright flower. Buddleias emit a special honey-scented fragrance that lures butterflies like a moth to a light, and then once there, they find the flowers super-rich in nectar.

A butterfly bush in the garden will often be seen with a mass of butterflies on the flowers, especially during hot sunny afternoons. Buddleias attract other insects too, like moths, and the reddish ones strongly attract hummingbirds. So it’s more than a name; it’s actually a botanical phenomenon. 

More Information
SKUAM013970
Item Package Size
Plant - 3" Pot
Common Name
Butterfly Bush Black Knight
Botanical Name
Buddleia davidii Black Knight
Zones
5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Light Requirements
Full Sun
Flower Color
Purple
Flower Size
6-10" flowers
Mature Height
48-96" tall (4-8 feet)
Mature Spread
36-60" wide (3-5 feet)
Growth Rate
Fast
Bloom Time
Early to late summer
Planting Depth
Crown of plant should rest just at or above the soil surface after watering in.
Ships As
Potted Plant
Foliage
Bushy arching stems.
Soil Type
Loamy Soil, Well-Drained Soil
Soil Moisture
Dry, Average
Tolerates
Dry Sites
Advantages
Attract Butterflies, Attract Hummingbirds, Deer Resistant, Extended Bloom Time (more than 4 weeks), Good For Hedge / Screen, Easy To Grow, Good For Cut Flowers, Fragrant Flower / Foliage, Rabbit Resistant
Awards
Award of Garden Merit.
Ideal Region
Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, West, Southwest, Pacific Northwest
Planting Time
Spring / Summer, Fall
Neonicotinoid Free
Prohibited In
Oregon, Washington
Ships to Hawaii, Alaska & Canada
No
Planting & Care

Planting Instructions for Butterfly Bushes:

Butterfly Bush
  1. Open the box immediately, protect from cold, and water each potted plant. Some of your butterfly bush plants may have new green growth and some may not. If you see no leaves, don't worry; this is normal. The roots in the pot are healthy and ready to grow in your garden.
  2. Plant as soon as you can. If your weather cooperates (above freezing), begin planting as soon as possible. If not, keep your butterfly bushes where they get some sun through a window, and keep them moist, not soggy.
  3. As you set out your potted butterfly bushes, dig to loosen the soil around and below the actual spot, and then set the rooted plant at the same level if was growing in the pot.
  4. Plant your butterfly bushes about 4-6' apart, depending on the variety.

  5. When you remove the plant from the pot, do not pull on the leaves or stems. Squeeze the pot a little and the roots and soil will slide out for you.
  6. Water well after planting, and continue to water at least every two weeks, depending on rainfall.

All About Butterfly Bushes

Butterfly Bush Bicolor

Butterfly Bush is easy and quick to grow

Butterfly bushes are popular and hardy from Zone 5 south to Zone 9. In the colder zones, they die to the ground each year like a perennial plants, but in more southern regions, they are somewhat evergreen. In the warmer states, butterfly bushes often grow to 10 or 12 ft. high, and require pruning to keep them shapely. They're happy in almost any soil and prefer moist ground, but will also do well in dryer spots. They need plenty of sun, but will be fine with some shade in the warmer areas. All this tells you that this plant is a tough one, and should be easy to grow in your garden. A well-grown specimen can be a magnificent "fountain" of flowers, since the stems with heavy flower clusters tend to arch in all directions.

The colors and named varieties.

You'll find pink, white, blue, and some very beautiful new bi-colors. Buddleia "Bicolor" created a sensation when it burst on the scene. It is one of the first with bi-colored blooms, often developing long clusters that range from bluish to raspberry to bright orange as you look from the tip to the base of the flower spike.

White Butterfly Bush

Some botanists think the basic white butterfly bush has the most potent lure for insects. That's "White Profusion" with it's very heavy flower heads shown on the right.

A butterfly bush with pink, blue and white flowers on the same plant? Hmmm.

If you've ever heard about this magical butterfly bush, I think I know why. During the 1990's a very well know perennial nursery, which shall remain nameless, began selling "a butterfly bush with three colors on the same plant." The offer was such a successful bonanza for them, they repeated it over and over in ad after ad. And hundreds of thousands of gardeners bought. Well, what they got was really three small seedlings of three different plants grouped into one pot—one white, one blue and one pink. It all worked well, since butterfly bushes grow so easily and quickly, it really did look like one leafy bush as it grew. But once the "bush" was up and blooming with all the colors, if you looked closely near the ground, you'd see three little trunks, not just one. The effect was definitely one handsome bush with blooms in all three colors, but it was simply three different bushes planted very close together.

New butterfly bushes to come?

The genus Buddleia (or Buddleja to be correct) is a group of several wild species that are cultivated and hybridized for the plants we enjoy. Most are from China, but some have been imported from South America as well. The most popular is B. davidii, which was brought into England's Kew Gardens in the 1880's, and is the parent of all the well-known butterfly bushes. However, according to "The Butterfly Website", some naturalists are still seeking out unknown species of Buddleia on the slopes of the Himalayas.

Don't confuse the butterfly bush with butterfly weed.

Some people mistakenly call another famous butterfly attracting plant "butterfly bush", but that's incorrect. "Butterfly weed" is the common name of our famous flame-orange milkweed native wildflower, Asclepias tuberosa. Learn more about butterfly weed »

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As soon as your order is placed you will receive a confirmation email. You will receive a second email the day your order ships telling you how it has been sent. Some perennials are shipped as potted plants, some as perennial roots packed in peat.  The ‘Plant Information’ section describes how that item will ship. All perennials and spring-planted bulbs are packaged to withstand shipping and are fully-guaranteed. Please open upon receipt and follow the instructions included.

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