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Shrubs

Buddleja forrestii

Forrest’s butterfly bush

Large deciduous shrub about 4m tall, with pale green young leaves, downy beneath, and bearing fragrant flowers, usually pale lilac produced in cylindrical racemes 25cm long, in late summer to early autumn

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Ultimate height

2.5–4 metres

Time to ultimate height

5–10 years

Ultimate spread

2.5–4 metres

Chalk

Loam

Sand

Moisture

Moist but well–drained, Well–drained

pH

Acid, Alkaline, Neutral

	Stem	Flower	Foliage	Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Full sun

Aspect

South–facing or West–facing or East–facing

Exposure

Sheltered

Hardiness
Hardiness ratings
All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets
H1a: under glass all year (>15C)
H1b: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
H1c: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)

Botanical details

Family: Scrophulariaceae
Native to the UK: No
Foliage: Deciduous
Habit: Spreading branched
Genus: Buddleja can be evergreen or deciduous shrubs, occasionally trees or scrambling climbers with simple leaves and panicles of small, tubular fragrant flowers
Name status: Correct

How to grow

Cultivation

Grow in well-drained soil in full sun in a sheltered location out of cold winds. Best in warmer counties or city locations. Can be wall-trained on a warm sunny wall. See buddleja cultivation for more detailed advice

Propagation

Propagate by semi-ripe cuttings in summer, or by hardwood cuttings in autumn

Suggested planting locations and garden types

City and courtyard gardens
Coastal
Cottage and informal garden
Gravel garden
Wildlife gardens
Wall side borders

Pruning

Pruning group 6

Pests

May be susceptible to aphids, capsid bugs, caterpillars, earwigs, figwort weevils, glasshouse red spider mite, leaf and bud eelworm, and mullein moth

Diseases

May be susceptible to honey fungus, fungal leaf spot, and virus diseases

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