When gardeners come to a nursery or garden centre they ask more often than not for butterfly bushes (B. davidii) but there are other species worth considering.

From Asia B. alternifolia and the cultivar ‘Argentea’ which flower in June. B. globosa from South America, the orange ball tree and from China & Japan B. lindleyana with violet purple slender waxy like flowers.

Also worth considering are B. cordata and other sub species from Mexico all summer flowering and the giant leaves of B. nivea var yunnanensis from China.

There are 16 hardy species in the collection at Longstock