Buddleia Dapper Lavender Butterfly Bush

DAPPER, (/ˈdapə/): adjective. To appear neat, well-presented and tidy. ‘He looked very dapper in his new suit’.

Dapper Lavender Buddleja, (/ˈdapə /ˈlav(ə)ndə /ˈbʌdliə/): Exciting new plant with fat lavender flowers on a compact and tidy gray-leaf shrub. ‘My garden looks great with the Dapper Lavender Buddleja in it.’

However we might define it, you will love this great new buddleja bush, which combines the small size of other new buddleja with the traditional fat blossoms of older garden favorites. Smothered in 5-inch long flower spikes that are fat and full, this plant is great in all the sunny spots of your garden, blooming continuously and profusely from early summer right into the fall. Once your spring blooms are over, let this easy plant step in and keep the color parade going. It thrives in heat, sunshine and drier soils (once established) and also looks wonderful in pots and planter boxes.

Growing the Dapper Lavender Buddleja

Size and Appearance

The Dapper Lavender Buddleja is an exciting new variety of that old favorite, the butterfly bush. It grows only 3 or 4 feet tall and wide, which it will do in a single season once it is established, and at any time from early summer into fall it will have an average of 25 flower spikes on it, making a wonderful and colorful show. It produces many slender stems from low down, which are covered in soft, gray-green leaves. The leaves are up to 3 inches long and ¾ of an inch wide, with a textured surface, and they taper to a point. The soft coloring looks lovely in the sunlight from the moment the stems sprout in spring, perfect against a background of darker greens, and mixing with any color in your beds.

By early summer the end of every branch has developed a long, fat spike of about 100 tiny flowers – not some skinny spike with scattered blooms, but a fat one, half as wide as it is long, packed solid with blooms. These are small, like tiny jewels, with 5 open petals that are a warm, bright lavender, surrounding a golden-orange center. They open from the bottom up, and it takes a couple of weeks for a spike to fully open, with each individual blossom lasting about 5 days. The spikes are about 3 inches long when the first blooms open, but 5 inches long by the time the top-most blooms are open. No seeds are produced, and the flower spikes simply shrivel and disappear. As that top flower spike fades, side-shoots sprout rapidly out, carrying more flowers, so that blooming continues and continues, right into mid-fall, and often only stops when the first hard frost comes. As well, the blooms have the classic sweet scent we look for in these plants, and they attract big numbers of butterflies and other pollinators that will delight children of every age.

Using the Dapper Lavender Buddleja in Your Garden

Wherever you have hot, sunny places that need color, the Dapper Lavender Buddleja is the perfect choice. The foliage and flower colors don’t blur out in bright light, and this bush loves heat and drier soil, making a fabulous show. Plant it on rocky slopes, or against a sunny wall or fence. Grow it among other shrubs that bloom earlier, so that the beds has continuous interest and blossoms. Grow a row along a path or driveway to make a simple but spectacular display for months. In zones 8 and 9 you can grow it in a planter box or pot, standing out all winter.

Hardiness

This bush is hardy from zone 6 to zone 9. It is deciduous, and branches may die in winter, but it re-spouts strongly in spring. It is often late to sprout, so be patient – it will come back just fine.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Full sun and well-drained soil is essential for this plant to grow long-term in your garden. Avoid places that are wet, especially in winter, which can kill it during cold weather. Sandy, gravel and rocky soils are fine, and don’t add organic material when planting, unless the soil is almost pure sand.

Maintenance and Pruning

You can remove spent flower spikes if you want, but generally they disappear among the new growth. Just remove the flower spike, and not any of the branch below it. Spring pruning is necessary, and in colder zones it is best to wait until the new buds are swelling, so that you know which parts are alive. Cut back to just above a pair of fat buds, and remove any small, twiggy stems. Established plants grow rapidly – some liquid fertilizer for flowering shrubs is a great idea to keep it going – and soon become full-sized again. Pests and diseases are usually absent, and this great bush is very easy to grow.

History and Origin of the Dapper Lavender Buddleja

The butterfly bush, Buddleja davidii, (sometimes spelled as ‘Buddleia’) was first found along the border between China and Tibet by the French missionary and naturalist Pere Armand David in 1869. He sent seeds to Europe, and it rapidly became a popular and easy garden shrub. Since then, in some parts of the country, it has become invasive, and forms that don’t produce seeds, like the Dapper Lavender Buddleja, are valuable where there are concerns about spreading into wild areas. This variety was created by Scott Trees, who lives in Arroyo Grande, California. Scott is an experienced breeder at the University of California, with over 300 patents to his name. He began with two older varieties of butterfly bush, ‘Attraction’ and ‘Miss Ruby’, both with dark-purple blooms. From them he developed a variety called Cranraz (`Boscranz`), and then used that variety with other seedlings he had bred. Among the many plants he created, he selected one in 2015 that he named `Buddaplav`. This plant was granted a patent in 2021, and is released as the lavender color in the Dapper range of new compact butterfly bushes from Star® Roses and Plants.

Buying the Dapper Lavender Buddleja at the Tree Center

You will love the traditional fat blooms of this great compact butterfly bush, and their gorgeous coloring. While old butterfly bushes grew large, needing a lot of space, this compact bush can be grown by everyone, and it doesn’t produce seeds that can spread. Butterfly bushes are always popular, and you will love this one, for sure. Order now – we only have a limited quantity, and they won’t last long.