Buddleia ‘Lochinch’

Buddleia 'Lochinch' (Buddleja 'Lochinch') is the butterfly bush for gardeners who want the flowers without the coarse growth the group is known for. It settles at around 2.2m tall and 1.8m wide, holds soft silver grey foliage all season, and opens long lavender blue spikes with a small orange eye at the centre of each floret. The scent lifts on warm afternoons, and butterflies work it from the first spike to the last.

Why you'll love it

• Silver foliage that earns its keep. Most buddleias are plain green between flushes. This one holds felted grey leaves that sit well beside lavender, salvia and roses.
• Real butterfly and bird value. Nectar draws butterflies and bees through the warm months, and small birds work the shrub for insects afterwards.
• Fast to fill a gap. From a tube it makes serious size in two seasons, furnishing a new bed cheaply while slower shrubs catch up.
• Tough where it counts. Frost hardy, drought tolerant once established, and content in poor soil.
• Fragrant at close range. A honeyed scent best appreciated beside a path or a seat.

Where it works best

Feature planting. One plant at the back of a sunny bed gives a 2m silver mound with months of colour above it, best against a dark fence.

Borders and edging. For a repeating run along a fence or driveway, plant 1.5m apart. Each shrub still shows its shape and the gaps close by the second summer.

Small gardens. It takes a hard winter cut so well that you can hold it near 1.5m in a courtyard and still get full length spikes.

Growing Buddleia 'Lochinch' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun all day, or the spikes come short and the silver dulls. This suits warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens, and it takes frost without complaint. Humid tropical and subtropical summers bring leaf spotting and poor flowering.

Soil. Not fussy about fertility and happy in thin gravelly ground, but it will not accept wet feet. On heavy clay, plant on a raised mound and mulch 75mm deep clear of the stems.

Water and feed. Deep soak weekly through the first summer, then taper off. After two seasons it is genuinely drought tolerant, and one handful of slow release fertiliser in early spring is plenty.

Pruning. Cut the shrub back hard in late winter to a low framework and it rebuilds and flowers on new wood. Deadhead spent spikes to prolong the display and limit self seeding, which matters in cooler districts where buddleia is a listed environmental weed: check your council list before planting in Tasmania and parts of Victoria.

What to expect when it arrives

This one is sold as tubestock only: a young single stemmed plant, usually well under knee height, and the honest starting point for a shrub this quick. Expect flowers in the first summer and close to mature size by the end of the second. Being deciduous, a winter delivery may arrive as bare stems with fat buds, which is normal rather than a fault.

Plants are packed upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse plants that attract bees and butterflies
• Perennials to plant alongside it in a cottage border
• Compare other fragrant garden plants
• See the full deciduous shrub range

Common questions

Can I keep it smaller than 2.2m?

Yes. A hard cut back in late winter resets it every year, so holding it near 1.5m costs you nothing in flower.

Does it self seed?

It can, particularly in cooler regions with summer rain. Deadheading the spikes as they brown prevents almost all of it, which is why we treat that job as part of the routine.

Can I grow it in a pot?

It works in a container 400mm or wider with free draining mix, though it settles nearer 1.5m. Water more often than you would in the ground, because a potted buddleia in full sun dries out quickly.