Pink Butterfly Bush

Pink Butterfly Bush (Oenothera lindheimeri, still widely sold as Gaura lindheimeri) flowers for most of the warm half of the year and asks almost nothing in return. It makes a loose mound about 80cm tall and wide, with pink flowers on wiry stems that lift and dip in the lightest breeze. It is drought hardy, frost hardy and safe around cats and dogs.

Why you'll love it

• A very long flowering season. Pink blooms open in waves from spring into autumn, and a light shear midway keeps the display going.
• Movement other perennials lack. The flowers sit well above the foliage on slender stems, so a bed of them never reads as static.
• Genuinely low maintenance. Drought tolerant, heat tolerant and content in poor soil. Once established it needs water only in a long dry spell.
• Safe around pets. Not toxic to cats or dogs, so it suits a front border a dog walks past daily.
• Bees and butterflies find it fast. It flowers steadily through the months when many natives have finished.

Where it works best

Borders and edging. Plant 50cm apart for a soft massed display along a path or the front of a bed. At that spacing the mounds merge into one drift.

Mass planting and small gardens. An 80cm footprint suits a courtyard or narrow strip, and repeated at 50cm centres it covers a slope cheaply.

Pots and containers. One plant fills a 300mm pot well. Use a free draining mix and water more often than you would in the ground.

Growing Pink Butterfly Bush in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, all day if possible. This is a plant for warm temperate, cool temperate, Mediterranean and arid gardens, and it is frost hardy once established. It is not the pick for the wet tropics or humid subtropical summers, where constant moisture brings on rot.

Soil. Free draining above all else. Poor, sandy and gravelly soils suit it, while rich damp beds give floppy growth and fewer flowers. On clay, plant on a raised mound with coarse compost through it.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer, then only in extended dry weather. A light application of slow release fertiliser in early spring is plenty, and more than that costs you flowers.

Pruning. Shear the plant back by a third when the first flush tires and it reblooms within weeks. In cool gardens it dies back over winter, so cut it near ground level and wait for spring.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in two sizes: tube stock and 140mm plants in packs of ten. Tube stock is small on arrival, usually a modest tuft of foliage, and it is the value option for a long border because this perennial establishes quickly. The 140mm packs generally flower in their first season.

Some flower stems may arrive bent or broken. That is cosmetic, and the plant replaces them within weeks. Expect a slow first month, then rapid growth. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95, and every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Perennials that carry a cottage garden through the season
• Browse plants that are safe around cats and dogs
• Plants that bring bees and butterflies in
• Compact choices for small gardens

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it?

Fifty centimetres apart for a massed border. That matches its 80cm spread closely enough for the mounds to knit together in a season while keeping air moving between the crowns.

Why has mine stopped flowering?

Usually the first flush has run its course. Shear the plant back by a third and water it once, and a second flush follows in two to three weeks. Too much fertiliser or shade also cuts flowering back.

Will it survive a frosty winter?

It is frost hardy once established. In cool temperate and inland gardens the top growth dies back and reshoots from the base in spring, so cut the old stems down and leave it alone.