Not the plant you're looking for? Search over 300,000 plants

Shrubs

Buddleja venenifera f. calvescens

A deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub, with upright to arching shoots and oval-shaped, deep green leaves with silvery woolly undersides. Clusters of small, tubular flowers with flared tips, in shades from pale to deep purple, are produced at the tips of the stems in summer

Save to My plants

Buy this plant

Plant nurseries
2 suppliers

Ultimate height

1.5–2.5 metres

Time to ultimate height

5–10 years

Ultimate spread

1.5–2.5 metres

Chalk

Loam

Sand

Moisture

Moist but well–drained, Well–drained

pH

Acid, Alkaline, Neutral

	Stem	Flower	Foliage	Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Full sun

Aspect

South–facing or West–facing

Exposure

Sheltered

Drought resistance

Yes

Hardiness
Hardiness ratings
All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets
H1a: under glass all year (>15C)
H1b: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
H1c: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)

Botanical details

Family: Scrophulariaceae
Native to GB / Ireland: No
Foliage: Deciduous or Semi evergreen
Habit: 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: Unresolved

How to grow

Cultivation

Grow in well-drained soil in full sun with shelter from cold winds. Ideal for wall training on a south-facing wall. See buddleja cultivation for more detailed advice

Propagation

Propagate by hardwood cuttings in autumn, or by semi-hardwood cuttings in summer

Suggested planting locations and garden types

Cottage and informal garden
Coastal
City and courtyard gardens
Gravel garden
Wildlife gardens
Wall side borders

Pruning

Pruning group 6, or Pruning group 13 for wall-trained plants

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

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.