Butterfly bush
A Chinese shrub with purple spikes; mainly a butterfly plant, worked regularly by honey bees only on hot days. Invasive in Europe.
- Nectar
- Medium
- Pollen
- Low
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 2-4 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Butterfly bush is a fast-growing shrub from China that bears purple, pink or white flowers in long spikes. As the name suggests, its main visitors are butterflies. The flower tube is a little long for honey bees; they only work it regularly on hot days, when the nectar rises in the tube. Its value as honey bee forage is therefore moderate.
Flowering
It flowers from July to September. If faded spikes are cut off, the plant produces new spikes on side shoots and flowering is extended.
Honey and pollen
Its pollen contribution is small; there is no honey under its name.
Note for the beekeeper
Its seeds are carried far by the wind, and it easily goes wild along railway lines, in quarries and on stream beds. It is considered invasive in many European countries and new planting is not recommended. If kept in the garden, faded spikes should be cut before they set seed, or sterile cultivars should be chosen.