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Buddleja marrubiifolia

woolly butterfly bush

A half-hardy evergreen shrub, to around 1.5m high, with arching branches and woolly, silvery leaves with bluntly toothed edges. Rounded clusters of small orange flowers are produced in late spring or early summer

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Size
Ultimate height
1–1.5 metres
Time to ultimate height
5–10 years
Ultimate spread
1–1.5 metres
Growing conditions
Chalk
Loam
Sand
Moisture
Well–drained
pH
Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Colour & scent
StemFlowerFoliageFruit
Spring Orange Grey Silver Green
Summer Orange Grey Silver Green
Autumn Grey Silver Green
Winter Grey Silver Green
Position
  • Full sun
Aspect

South–facing

Exposure
Sheltered
Drought resistance
Yes
Hardiness
H3
Botanical details
Family
Scrophulariaceae
Native to the UK
No
Foliage
Evergreen
Habit
Bushy, 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

Needs a sunny spot with excellent drainage; in areas prone to winter wet, it may be best grown in containers and overwintered in a cool greenhouse. See buddleja cultivation for more detailed advice

Propagation

Propagate by semi-hardwood cuttings in summer

Suggested planting locations and garden types
  • City and courtyard gardens
  • Cottage and informal garden
  • Gravel garden
  • Patio and container plants
  • Conservatory and greenhouse
Pruning

Pruning group 8

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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